Of Pirates and CrossDressing Runaways
by doiteain
Summary: Feliciana and Lovina run away from home, disguise themselves as males, and join Antonio's pirate crew. pirate!Spain, fem!Lovino/Romano, fem!Feliciano/Italy, Spamano, Gerita, and all sorts of other lovely goodies. Rated for Lovina's vocabulary.
1. Runaways

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

"Vee, sorella, I don't want to cut off all of my hair!" Feliciana whined.

"_Stai zitto__!_" Lovina hissed. "Do you want to be recognized and taken back?" It had been hard enough to sneak out and get to the inn they were currently at. There was no way she was going to get dragged back. At least, no way she was getting dragged back alive.

Tears welled up in the younger sister's eyes as she shook her head. "I don't want to go back. I don't want to have to marry the prince. And I don't want you to have to marry his brother either!" Tears finally rolled down her cheeks.

The older twin's eyes softened. "It's going to be alright, Feli." She patted her head gently. "All we have to do is make sure the bastards don't find us."

Feliciana smiled a little bit, but it quickly vanished when she had another sad thought. "Veee, grandfather will miss us!"

"He'll be fine without us, he's very strong," Lovina tried to comfort her sister. "He might miss us, but maybe when they all calm down we can write to him." The corners of Lovina's mouth twitched upward when Feliciana "ve~"-ed happily.

"So, sorella?" Feliciana asked.

Lovina hummed in acknowledgement as she started cutting her sister's hair.

"How exactly are we gonna disguise ourselves?"

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Ludwig sighed. Gilbert, his older brother, sent him to the bar connected to a local inn while he and their captain conducted business. It wasn't like he didn't know what they were doing, but Gilbert didn't want to "ruin his baby brother's innocence," which was complete nonsense, really. Gilbert could take being a protective, older brother too far. Especially because they were both pirates.

"Veee, sor—fratello, how come?" a rather small brunette further down the bar whined to his near identical counterpart.

"Because I said so, idiota," the other one snapped. "You know we can't go into the city."

Normally, the German wouldn't listen into conversations, but he didn't have anything else to do. And they were the only three people in the bar (it was the middle of the day). And the two (apparent) brothers were rather loud. It was rather strange. Why couldn't they go into the city?

"Vee, then where are we supposed to go, fratello?"

"If you would just shut up for a minute I could actually figure that out!"

The bubbly one sniffed. "I'm sorry, fratello. Vee…"

The angry one sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be right back. I need to check something." And then he walked off.

The bubbly one turned towards Ludwig when his brother was gone. "Ve~ Hello! Who are you?"

Ludwig started when he realized that he was talking to him. "Ludwig…" He got a better look at the brunette. He was short and thin, wearing loose clothes, and had the strangest looking curl sticking out of his head.

"Nice to meet you, Ludwig! My name is Felician—" he coughed. "Feliciano, ve~"

Ludwig nodded. "Err, nice to meet you…?" Dealing with people wasn't really his thing. Particularly people who were, so… so… Feliciano-like.

"Vee, but why are you here all alone?" Feliciano tilted his head to the side.

"I'm waiting for my older bruder," Ludwig said. Surely it couldn't hurt to talk with this Feliciano, right?

"Me, too! Ve~ my fratello just left, but he's going to come back. His name is Lovino."

"I see," Ludwig said. "He seemed rather angry."

Feliciano laughed. It was a rather feminine laugh, Ludwig noted. "He's always angry, ve~. Or at least he acts like he's always angry."

"Kesesesese~, so my baby bruder can play nice after all."

Ludwig could hear the smirk in his brother's voice. "Hello, Gilbert."

"Ve~ so, this is your fratello, Ludwig?" Feliciano asked.

"Ja, I am the awesome Gilbert!" Gilbert's red eyes flashed.

"So, how did your business go, bruder?" Ludwig asked.

"Antonio and I got rid of the un-awesome two who were sneaking off with more than their fair share." Gilbert smirked.

Ludwig sighed and rubbed his temples. "We can't keep losing members of our crew, Gilbert."

"Vee, crew?" Feliciano tilted his head to the side.

"Kesesesese~ That's right." Gilbert smirked. "I'll tell you a secret, but only if you promise not to tell."

Feliciano nodded eagerly.

Gilbert leaned in closer and (after the appropriate dramatic pause) he said, "We're both pirates."

Feliciano gasped. "Vee! No way!"

Gilbert nodded.

Ludwig could just feel the smugness rolling off of him. "So who did it end up being, Gilbert?"

"The cook and that one guy… I think his name was Adrian?" Gilbert wondered for not even half a moment. "I knew they were un-awesome from the start."

Ludwig rolled his eyes. It was his brother who called the cook "the most awesome cook ever" a week ago.

"But who's your little friend, Ludwig?" Gilbert gave him a knowing smirk.

"That is Feliciano, and I only met him a few minutes ago."

The brunette looked up as his name was said.

"Only a few minutes ago?" Gilbert asked. "Kesesesese~ my awesome must be rubbing off on you for you to pick 'em up so quick, Lutz."

A slight blush dusted Ludwig's cheeks. "Don't be ridiculous, bruder. Besides, now we need to pick up another two people for our crew."

Gilbert made a face. "Way to not be able to tell when I was only making an awesome joke. But fine, you can do it."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because the awesome doesn't feel like it."

"Ve~ I'll join your crew!"

The brothers stopped their bickering to look at the little brunette.

"Kesesesese~ it's awesome for you to volunteer, little guy, but are you sure? Pirates have a dangerous life."

Feliciano nodded eagerly.

"Don't you have family to go back to?" Gilbert asked.

"Only my fratello, but he can join, too!" Feliciano said.

"Feliciano!" Lovino snapped as he walked in.

"Fratello!" Feliciano latched himself onto his brother. "I found a place that we might be able to stay, maybe! Ve~"

Lovino raised an eyebrow. "And where is that?"

"Ve~ on Ludwig's and his brother Gilbert's ship!" Feliciano nodded happily and the curl on his head bobbed.

Lovino glared at the two for a few moments.

"Well, not our ship, but I'm the awesome first mate," Gilbert explained.

Lovino whispered something (presumably a question) into his brother's ear.

"Ve~ I think so, fratello," Feliciano answered.

"Fine," Lovino said. He looked at Gilbert with a glare. "When do we start?"

"You'll get on the ship today," Gilbert said. "If you've got any friends or family to say goodbye to, go do it now."

Lovino shook his head. "Not necessary."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. Why was he so nosy? "What? Your parents dead or something, kid?"

"No," Lovino said. "They're not dead. But our father is a fucking bastard."

Now Ludwig understood. They were runaways.

* * *

**A/N: A pirate!Spain fic~! :D Oh, how I love pirate!Spain... I promise he'll appear in the next chapter!**

**And I made Feli and Lovi girls because the idea amused me too much to not do it ^^; It'll be fun to see them try and hide it and have different characters' reactions to it.  
**

**Oh, because I am absolutely horrible at titles, if anyone has a better idea for one let me know. That would be awesome.  
**

**Reviews are lovely~  
**


	2. Welcome Aboard

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia**

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As they walked down to where the ship was docked, Lovina wasn't nervous. Of course not. Being nervous would mean she was afraid, and she was _not_ afraid. She was simply… excited. Yes, excited. Excited that she could finally get away from those bastards once and for all. The stupid prince bastards who couldn't even tell her and Feliciana apart even they were supposed to get married. Her stupid bastard of a father who tried to marry them off when he only saw his daughters a grand total of eight times (and didn't even want to more than half of those times) over their seventeen-year lifespan. But they were gone! Finally gone!

Lovina was taken away from her thoughts by Feli tapping her on the shoulder. "Veee, fratello? Are you okay? You were starting to smile really weirdly and it was scaring me."

"I'm fine, Feli. I was just thinking about something," Lovina said.

"Veee! You weren't thinking about murdering someone, were you?" Feli asked loudly and her eyes were wide.

The two potatoes looked up from their own conversation. "Murder?" the blonde potato whispered to the albino potato. The albino potato shrugged.

"Where the hell did you get that idea, Feli?" Lovina snapped. Really, her sister could be such an idiota sometimes. "Of course not!"

"Vee, then what were you thinking about, fratello?" Feli asked.

Lovina sighed and then said in a quieter tone (damn potatoes trying to listen in on their conversation), "I was just thinking about how we are finally free from those bastards. It's nice."

"It sure is, ve~" Feli said with a dreamy tone. "Oh! Oh! Ludwig! Gilbert! Is that the ship over there?" Feli pointed at some speck in the distance. Damn she's always had good eyesight.

"Well, that is where the ship is supposed to be," the blonde potato said. "But I can't see it from here."

"Kesesesese~ you sure got some eagle eyes, huh?" the albino potato asked.

Feli nodded. "Mmhm! Fratello says I always can see things before anyone else can."

"That's pretty awesome, even the awesome me thinks so," the egotistical, albino potato said. "Maybe we should send you up to the crow's nest sometime."

"Veee, are there crows there? Crows are scary!" Feli cried.

"Nah, there aren't any crows there, Feli. That's just the name of the lookout spot on the ship," Gilbert said and Feli laughed, "Oh!" Like she said before, her sister could be such an idiota sometimes. "But tell me, little guy, why are crows so scary?"

"Veee, when I was really, really little a bunch of them attacked me and they were really big and they had really sharp beaks and claws and they were yelling at me. But then fratello saved me!" Feli's eyes were bright.

"Oh?" The albino potato raised a pale eyebrow. "How did Lovino save you?"

"Ve~ Lovi took this branch and beat them away while yelling bad words at them. I didn't know you could know so many bad words when you were only three, vee."

Lovina glared at her sister for half a second before rolling her eyes.

"Kesesesese~ so I guess Lovino always saves you?" the albino potato asked.

Feli nodded and her curl bobbed. "Yup! Lovi is always watching out for me, ve~"

"You know, Lovino," the albino potato said and he slung an arm over her shoulder, "you're a pretty awesome older bruder. Not as awesome of me, of course—" Ludwig snorted. "But still pretty awesome."

Lovina glared at the arm around her shoulder, but she did nothing more because she saw the knife tucked into the albino potato's belt. Not that she was afraid, it's just she didn't want to get on his bad side… but not because she was afraid of him, damn it!

Finally, they were close enough to the ship for Lovina to get a good look at it, and it was… well, it was… what was she supposed to say about it? It was a damn pirate ship! It's not like there was much to say about it. But it looked big, and even though Lovina didn't know too much about ships, it also looked like it could be very fast.

"Vee, Gilbert? Who's the captain of the ship again?" Feli asked.

"Captain Antonio." The albino potato smirked. "The most feared pirate captain on the seven seas."

"Veee, is he scary?" Feli asked.

"As long as you don't get on his bad side you'll be fine," Gilbert said.

"Oh, that's good, ve~" Feli chirped, and the albino potato _finally_ took his arm off of Lovina's shoulder to ruffle Feli's hair.

When they reached the small pier the ship was docked at, the albino potato strutted (there really was no better word for it) to the side of the ship and yelled up, "Oi! Send down the ladder! The awesome is here!"

The wood and rope ladder clattered down and Gilbert gave it a tug to check it. He looked at the others. "The awesome me will go first, the newbies next, and then Ludwig will follow up the rear." And then he started climbing.

Lovina went next, and then Feliciana, and then Ludwig. A little over halfway to the top, one of Feli's feet slipped off of the ladder.

Ludwig caught it, and helped her regain her footing. "Be careful, Feliciano."

"Ve~ grazie, Ludwig!"

Once the rest of them got up and off of the ladder, the albino potato yelled (yet again), "Hey, captain, I've got some new recruits!"

"Gil," a voice said from inside (what was probably) the captain's office, "You know you don't have to yell so loud."

"But clearly it's more awesome for me to yell," the egotistical potato said.

He chuckled and stepped out, "Of course it is, Gil." He had dark brown, curly hair that he had tied back, tanned skin, a bright smile, and incredibly bright green eyes. And Lovina immediately decided that she didn't like him. "But was it that you were saying, Gil? I couldn't hear you over your own voice."

"I said, captain, that I've got two new recruits," Gilbert said. "My awesomeness found them."

The blonde potato rolled his eyes.

"Oh?" The captain looked at Feli, and then at Lovina (for much longer than she would have liked… the bastard). "What are your names?"

Feli immediately spoke up. "Ve~ my name is Feliciano, but you can call me Feli if you want to. And this is my fratello!"

The captain smiled at Lovina. "Does this fratello have a name?"

She scowled. "Lovino."

Antonio laughed. "You don't look so happy to be here, Lovino."

"I never claimed to be," Lovina said. "I'm here for my fratellino's sake."

"Oh really?" Antonio asked. "How kind of you. It's actually kind of cute."

Lovina's eyebrow twitched. "I am _not_ cute." _Don't cuss out the captain… Don't cuss out the captain…_

The captain smiled again. Why the hell was he so damn happy? "If you say so, Lovi."

"What the fuck is a Lovi!"

The captain laughed. "You're a Lovi, Lovi!"

It was just now that Lovina noticed the very dangerous sword hanging at the captain's side. She muttered under her breath, "Bastard…"

This only made the captain laugh again. "I heard that, Lovi!" He turned to the albino potato, "We set sail tomorrow."

Lovina glowered. "Fuck you."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Matthew sighed as he stashed his bag of his only belongings under his bunk. Captain Antonio had picked him up earlier to join his crew, and Matthew decided that he might as well. His brother, Alfred, was the captain of another pirate ship, but Matthew did not join its crew because his brother always forgot about him.

He stopped as he heard bickering outside of the door. He turned around and saw twin boys looking at him.

"Who the hell are you?" one of them asked.

Matthew gulped. He didn't want to have to deal with people like that. And there were two of them! They were almost identical! What if their personalities were, too?

"Ve~ be nice, fratello!" the other one cooed.

Well, there went that theory. Not that Matthew was upset about it being wrong.

"I'm Matthew," he said quietly.

"Nice to meet you! Veee, my name is Feliciano! And this is my fratello Lovino!" Feliciano said happily. "Loviii, say hi!" he whined.

Lovino rolled his eyes at his brother before he looked at Matthew. "Hello." And then he noticed there were only two bunks in this room. He glared at the lack of a third bunk.

"Veee, what is it, fratello?" Feliciano asked. "Oh! There are only two bunks! Ve~ that means we'll share, right, fratello?"

Lovino nodded. He didn't look too happy about it.

Feliciano lowered his voice (which didn't make it all that quiet). "Veee, fratello, my bandages feel weird, can I take them off?"

"Oh!" Matthew asked, "Is he hurt?"

Lovino shook his head. "He just has a cut on his leg. The bleeding stopped, but I put bandages on it in case it reopened."

The look Lovino gave Matthew told him to not ask any more questions, so that is exactly what Matthew did.

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**A/N: I love writing from Lovina's point of view! And Matthew is here! (I'm not setting up PruCan... of course not... why do you ask? *shifty eyes*)  
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**And on a slightly random note: PIRATE!SPAIN! Can we just all bask in his awesomeness for a moment? Please?  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story, that gives me warm squiggles inside (ex: ~~~~~)  
**

**Reviews are awesome!  
**


	3. And They're Off

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

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Feliciana sang happily to herself. Everything was so great! Sorella and she wouldn't have to marry those princes and they would get to stay with whomever they fall in love with (even though sorella said love was stupid)! And they were going to have adventures! And everyone seemed really nice, too!

The only real downside was that she would miss her Nonno… Oh! And she probably would never see that boy with the black cape again. Vee, even though she hasn't seen him in almost eight years, but he promised he would return! What if he came back and she wasn't there to meet him! Then she wouldn't have held up her side of the pinky promise! But maybe while she was abroad she might be able to find him… That would be nice, ve~.

Feliciana grabbed the mop (she was about to wash the deck) and her hand stung. "Owie!" She shook her hand and then looked at her hand: blisters, and some of them had burst already. "Sor—Fratello!"

Lovina stopped what she was doing (something with ropes) and glared at her (but she didn't mean it, ve!). "What now, Feli?"

"Vee, my hands," and Feliciana made the insides of her hands face her sister.

Lovina raised an eyebrow and then lowered it again a moment later (veee, how could people control their eyebrows like that?). She sighed. "Let's go take care of those."

Feliciana happily followed after her sister.

Ve~ Sorella was always looking out for her~.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio sighed contentedly. He always loved setting out to sea again (no matter how short his stay on land was). It was a great feeling: the fresh wind whipping around him, the smell of the sea, and just the overall anticipation that something exciting was going to happen. He never tired of it.

And now he had three new members for his crew. There was Matthew and he could be useful. He seemed competent, and there was the additional bonus of being Captain Jones' younger brother. Jones was less likely to try and sink him if he knew his brother was on board. Then there was Feliciano. He was very cheerful and Gilbert said he would make a good lookout, with or without an eyeglass. And then there was Lovino. He was amusing, that was for sure, and pretty plucky, too, to be cussing Antonio to his face in his first five minutes aboard. And he was adorable being so protective of his younger brother.

Yes, with the start of a new journey and some interesting new members of his crew, he just knew something exciting was going to happen.

"Captain," Ludwig called as he came up to where Antonio was standing behind the tiller.

Antonio looked up at him. Ludwig looked like he just ran here with his breathing slightly heavier than usual and a healthy pink on his cheeks. "Yes? What is it?"

"There is a fight happening down below. There are already a few people trying to break it up, but they sent me to come and get you."

"Okay," Antonio said. "I'll go. You keep an eye on the tiller for me, Ludwig."

Ludwig nodded and Antonio went under the deck and towards the sounds of yelling and loud thuds. When he reached the room that was the source of all the noise, he was a little surprised.

On one side of the room was a glaring Lars with a black eye held back by Matthew and on the other side was an absolutely furious Lovino with a busted lip who was held back by Gilbert. Even his first mate had trouble holding back the irate brunette.

"What happened in here?" Antonio asked.

"He attacked me," Lars accused.

"He wouldn't mind his own business," Lovino said not even a moment later.

Antonio exhaled. "Would either of you care to tell me the whole story?"

"Veee," Feliciano interjected as he stepped out from behind Gilbert. "Fratello was bandaging my hands." He held up his hands that had bandages wrapped around his palms and the lowest section of his fingers.

"Why did you need them?" Antonio asked. And what did that have to do with the fight?

"Blisters, vee. I got blisters from my work earlier and fratello was taking care of them. And then spiky hair man came and said something about dead weight, whatever that is. I didn't know weight could be alive in the first place. And then fratello yelled at spiky hair man and then spiky hair man said that I was weak, and that fratello was weak, too. 'Like girls' spiky hair man said. And then fratello punched him in the face and then they started fighting, vee. Then big brother Gilbert and Ludwig and Mattie came and tried to break it up and then Ludwig left and then you came and then I started telling you what happened and now you're giving me a look and now you're holding up your hands like you're trying to tell me to stop and now—"

"Okay, Feliciano, thank you," Antonio said. "That's enough." What surprised him most about the story wasn't anything in the story itself but more the fact that little Feli didn't stop even once to take a breath.

Lovi wrestled against Gilbert's grip on him. "Let me go, dammit!" he hissed.

Gilbert smirked. "I won't let you go until you calm down, kesesesese~" But Antonio could tell Gilbert really had to work hard to hold him back from how tense the muscles in his arms were.

"I won't calm down until you let me go!"

Lovi was so cute! Erm… Antonio meant amusing… or funny. Yes, funny, let's go with that. But he still had to deal with this problem.

"Lars," Antonio said, "Don't insult other crewmen. Particularly ones with short tempers."

Lars snorted. "Fine."

"And, Lovi," Antonio continued on despite Lovi's icy glare, "Try to control your temper better. Or at least don't attack other crewmen." Antonio looked at the both of them. "I don't want any discord on my ship. Understood?"

Lars nodded once. "Yes, sir."

Antonio looked at Lovi (whose face was red, so adorable!). "Lovino, I asked if I was understood."

"Yes, sir," he grumbled.

Ah~ he was adorable! Err… he meant troublesome. Troublesome and disobedient and angry and endearing… Wait. What was that last one? Never mind. Antonio nodded once. "Good." And then he turned and walked out with some strange thoughts on his mind.

* * *

**A/N: Aaah, fun chapter~**

**And something to look forward to (if you're one of those people who doesn't like to know anything about the plot don't read this, but it doesn't really spoil anything): One person will find out Feli and Lovi's gender next chapter! Who will it be? (Wouldn't you like to know? Kesesesese~)  
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**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed this story! It makes me feel like I'm Prussian (and therefore awesome).  
**

**For those of you who are curious: I will try to update at least once a week. I'm aiming for two or more, but I make no guarantees.  
**

***doiteain floats away in order to write more pirate!Spain... and maybe actually start her XXX Olympics fic...*  
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	4. An Interesting and Dangerous Discovery

**A/N: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Matthew opened his eyes blearily and blinked a few times. It has been a week since Lars and Lovino's fight. Matthew had no clue whatsoever how he managed to do it, but Lovino seemed to start to like (or at least not hate) him. Lovino would even snap at the other crewmen who forgot Matthew was there or couldn't see him (Gilbert did that, too, but thinking about the albino doing that for him made Matthew blush).

He turned his head over towards his bunkmates. They were still sleeping, unsurprisingly, but it did mean that Matthew would have to wake them up. The first time he did it was a terrifying experience. It seemed that for the first few seconds after someone wakes them up (if they woke up on their own it wasn't the case), Feli and Lovino would _switch_ personalities, but never for more than a few seconds. Lovino acted cheerful and sweet (which was disconcerting enough) and Feli would glare at everyone and even _swear_. After two seconds or so they would resume their usual personalities but Matthew still got thrown off by it. He decided not to tell anyone (because they probably wouldn't believe him anyway).

After a few seconds of just lying in bed, Matthew decided that he might as well get it over with. He walked over to the brothers' shared bed and bent over to shake them awake. That was when he saw it. The blood. A lot of it.

Matthew shook them awake frantically. "Wake up! Wake up!" What if they were unconscious? That was a lot of blood to lose. How did they even get injured? Whatever it was it must have been horrible!

Lovino was the first to wake up and he looked up at Matthew with bright eyes. "Hmm? What's wrong, Mattie?"

Feli woke up with a groan. "Fuck off… You two are too damn loud," and he pulled a pillow over his head.

"Are you guys okay?" Matthew asked. "You guys are bleeding! Really badly!"

Lovino looked down and swore rather colorfully. He looked up at Matthew. "Get bandages. And do not tell a single fucking _soul_."

Matthew zipped out of the room and frantically passed a few other crewmen who acted like they saw a ghost as he passed by them. He grabbed several rolls of bandages from where they were stored and started heading back to their bunk. In his haste he ran into something. Or someone. A certain, albino someone.

"Mattie! What's wrong? You look like someone's dying or something."

"Gilbert!" Matthew squeaked and he felt his cheeks warm. As much as he loved to stay and talk with him, he had to get these bandages to Lovino and Feliciano! What if they were bleeding to death as they spoke? "Uh… Nothing's wrong, eh."

Gilbert furrowed his pale eyebrows. "Then why do you have so many bandages, Mattie?"

"Ah… well you see… uh, Lovino got a gash on his shin… he's alright though, but… Feli is freaking out and I got these bandages to help him calm down."

"It must be some gash," Gilbert said as he eyed the rolls of bandages in Matthew's arms.

"Oh, it's not really… but, uh, Feli probably won't calm down until I bring this many so I... figured I might as well get them all in one trip!" Why was he such a horrible liar? "Now, uh… if you don't mind, I need to get to the two of them… Or else Feli might start screaming about his fratello being hurt…"

Gilbert stepped aside and Matthew rushed past him.

He hurried into the room and shut the door behind him. "I have… the bandages…" he panted out as he held up the bandages.

Lovino grabbed them and Matthew finally caught his breath. "Do you need help with those?"

"No!" Lovino said (rather too quickly). "Leave now so we can use these."

"How about I just turn around in case you need more?" Matthew offered.

Lovino narrowed his eyes. "Fine, but if you look I will kill you."

Matthew turned around and faced the corner. It was rather strange, really, how Lovino and Feliciano behaved (and how Lovino reacted to certain things). They would never change when he was in the room (even though they were all males, right?), Lovino refused to let anyone touch him or his brother (even though Feli would still hug people), and if anyone made a comment about how small or weak the two brothers were, Lovino would go up to them and show just how _weak_ he was. And now, with their injury, Lovino demanded absolute secrecy. It was a really odd way to behave… unless…

The pieces clicked together in Matthew's mind and he interrupted one of Feli's comments about pasta, "I hope you don't mind me wondering, but by any chance are you two girls?"

This was met by silence until Matthew heard several thuds coming in his direction and Lovino grabbed him by the shirt collar. Lovino hissed, "If you even think about telling someone I can and _will_ kill you and that person and make it look like an accident."

"I w-wasn't planning on t-telling anyone and I w-won't," Matthew managed to stammer out. Lovino (if that was even his (her?) name) could be absolutely terrifying.

Lovino nodded once.

"Veee, how did you know, Mattie?" Feli asked.

"I just kind of thought about it and took a guess," Matthew said. "But how do you hide it so well?"

"Hide what so well?" Lovino raised an eyebrow.

"Just…" Matthew grasped for the right words, "Your gender in general… Like you are perfectly fine with physical labor and your shapes don't give you away and you act the part very well…"

Lovino snorted. "We did do chores in our old lives. It's not like working is completely new to us."

"Veee, and we wear bandages around our chests and loose clothes," Feli added.

"Then explain how you can act as brothers when you are really sisters," Matthew said.

"It's not that different really. I watch out for my sorellina and we help each other out," Lovino said. "It would be the same if we were brothers."

"No," Matthew said, "I mean, you two don't stumble over things such as calling each other 'he' instead of 'she' and Feli always calls you 'fratello' instead of 'sorella'. It's not like you can just start doing something like that when you are so used to the opposite."

"Veee, we have lots of practice!"

"Where did you get this practice, though?"

Lovino glared at Matthew. "Before we ran away we would sneak out and act as boys so we could actually do what we wanted to. We would dress like we do now and tuck all of our hair under caps."

"What did you run away from?" Matthew couldn't help but ask all of these questions. It just seemed like getting one answer would give him yet another question he needed answered.

"Our bastard of a father," Lovino said. She didn't look happy to mention him.

"What did he do?"

"He ignored our existence for all of our lives until he tried to marry us off." Lovino crossed her arms.

"Who did he try to marry you off to?"

Lovino just stood there and glared at the wall behind Matthew.

"The princes, vee," Feli said. "But we don't like them much. They never could tell us apart and they were mean to sorella."

"They were jerks to you, too, idiota," Lovino spat.

"Vee, they were?" Feli cocked her head to the side.

"Wait, hold on a second," Matthew said and the sisters looked at him. "If you two were engaged to the princes, then that means you're nobility, right? Isn't anyone searching for you?"

"Of course there is," Lovino said. "Why do think I agreed to have Feli and I join the crew?"

Matthew nodded. It made sense, after all. Lovino didn't seem the type to jump at the chance to be a pirate. "But if you're a nobleman's daughters, why did you do the chores you say you did?"

"Veee, there was this really nice, really old lady who sold her crops in the market when we dressed as boys we would help her and carry all of the heavy things and did all of the things she couldn't," Feli chirped. "And if we did a good job she would give us some of her tomatoes!"

Matthew smiled at Feli. "That sounds nice." He looked at the two of them. "Can I ask you two what your real names are?"

"Feliciana and Lovina, ve~" Feli said.

"But if people are looking for you, shouldn't you have more different names to make yourselves less suspicious?" Matthew asked.

Lovino (Lovina?) glared at Matthew. "What do you think is more suspicious: the two of us having similar names to a nobleman's missing daughters, or the two of us stumbling over our names when we're tired or stressed and supposed to be twins who shouldn't mess up each other's names? We mess up less when are names are more similar to our real ones. No more questions." It wasn't a request.

Matthew nodded. "Fine, let's get to work, then. And if I promise to help you and not to tell anyone, will you agree to not kill me or injure me horribly?"

Lovina thought about it for a second and then nodded. "Deal."

"Oh, and before you go out you might want to put some bandages on your shin," Matthew added sheepishly.

Lovina raised an eyebrow. "Why on my shin?"

"Because Gilbert stopped me on my way back when I was carrying all of the bandages, and he wouldn't let me go past until I told him what they were for," Matthew said.

Lovina gave him a look. "And you told him I hurt my shin?"

"It was the best lie I could come up with on such short notice!" Matthew argued.

Lovina sighed. "Did you say which leg in particular?"

Matthew shook his head, "But why…" he started to ask, but he stopped when he saw Lovina walk over to her bed, roll up her pants leg and slam her shin into the corner of the frame.

She held out her hand. "Feli, bandages."

Feli passed her sister the bandages with her eyes wide. "Veee, sorella, why did you hurt yourself?"

Lovina looked up at Feli and Matthew when she finished wrapping the bandages around her now bloody shin. She smirked. "Wouldn't it be rather suspicious if Matthew said I was injured and I ended up being perfectly fine?"

Matthew didn't have anything to say to that.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Gilbert thought Mattie was acting strange. Sure, he tended to get nervous, but that back there was worse than usual. Gilbert didn't want Mattie to feel nervous or afraid. Only because he was awesomely looking out for him! Because that's what awesome people do for not-quite-as-awesome-but-still-pretty-awesome people.

Fingers snapped right in front of his face. "Gil, you're zoning out again."

Gilbert looked up and out from his awesome thoughts. "My bad, Antonio."

Antonio rolled his eyes. "You know you're supposed to call me 'captain'."

"But I'm also an awesome captain so I shouldn't have to," Gilbert said.

"You _used_ to be an 'awesome captain'," Antonio corrected.

"Hmph. Damn, un-awesome Braginsky…" Gilbert muttered.

Antonio laughed (how un-awesome of him). "As much as I'd like to curse him out with you, what was bothering you a minute ago?"

"Mattie was acting really worried and nervous about something this morning," Gilbert said.

"Fusosososo~ You would know, wouldn't you, Gil?" Antonio smirked.

"What are you implying?" Gilbert asked. And no, he was _not_ blushing. The awesome Gilbert did not blush. Ever.

"I'm not implying anything~" Antonio practically sang. He smirked at Gilbert again. "Did you ever find out what was worrying your dear Matthew?"

Gilbert glared at Antonio. But then he got an idea of something to say to bother his _friend_. "Ja, he was carrying all of these rolls of bandages."

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Who was injured?"

Now was Gilbert's turn to smirk. "Lovino."

Antonio immediately started to walk in the direction of where Lovino was supposed to be working.

Gilbert put a hand on Antonio's shoulder and pulled him around to face him. "Kesesesese~ why so worried, _captain_? He's just another crewman, right?"

Antonio stopped and his cheeks started to pink. "R-right. M-most definitely. What would make you think otherwise?" He laughed nervously.

Gilbert smirked again. "No reason~"

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter! ****Poor Matthew... he didn't do anything wrong and yet he's still getting death threats from Lovina... And the next chapter will be amusing, very amusing indeed. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! (Don't ask why I did an evil laugh... They're just fun to do)  
**

**Thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, or reviewed! :D**


	5. A Slight Change in Bunkmates

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Lovina set down the heavy crate she was carrying across the deck. She looked around with an uneasy feeling. She could just feel someone was watching her. Lovina shook her head to rid herself of the feeling. It was probably just Feli. She was sent up to the crow's nest this morning and was probably so excited and would probably try and show her sorella. Feli really needed to learn how to focus. After putting her uneasy feeling to rest, Lovina picked up the crate again and started walking to get under the deck.

"Lovi!" cried a certain very annoying, very cheerful voice. Arms wrapped around Lovina's middle from behind.

"Let go of me, bastard!" Lovina yelled. She tried to turn around to push him away (or severely injure him) but the crate in her arms made it hard to maneuver.

"But why should I, Lovi?" the captain asked.

He was way too close. "And don't call me 'Lovi'!" Lovina made to slam her heel back into Antonio's leg, but he seemed to notice and he let go and got out of the way in time.

"Fusosososo~ I'll call you 'Lovi' if I want to call you 'Lovi', Lovi." And then he smirked. _Smirked!_ The bastard.

Lovina glared at him. "What do you want, bastard? Or do you just take some sort of sadistic pleasure in bothering me?"

He smiled. "Of course not, Lovi! I was just wondering if you were alright."

Lovina raised an eyebrow. "Alright? Why wouldn't I be alright?"

"Gilbert told me you were injured, Lovi. Is that true?" Antonio asked.

"I'm fine." Lovina glared at him again.

"You didn't answer my question, Lovi. Are you hurt?"

"I got a gash on my leg, but I'm _fine_. So let me get back to work already." Lovina shot him a glare.

"Let me see it," Antonio said.

"I said I was fine," Lovina said.

Antonio gave her a look with those abysmal, beautiful, hatred-worthy green eyes. "Lovino, let me _see_ it." His expression was unreadable. "Now."

"Fine!" Lovina huffed. She set down her crate and rolled up her pants leg. She showed him her bandage-covered shin. The blood had already started to soak through. "There. Now you've seen it." Lovina reached for her crate.

The captain knelt down and started to undo the bandages on her leg.

Lovina sighed exasperatedly. Did the bastard do this to everyone on the ship? For the sake of their sanities, she hoped he didn't, but why did he have to choose _her _to bother?

There was lots of dried blood around the gash which started to close up fairly well. There were also a few mottled bruises around it.

"Lovi," Antonio said after a second, "How did you hurt yourself?"

"I fell," she lied effortlessly.

"But how did you fall?"

"Feli tackle-hugged me from behind. I wasn't expecting it and I fell into the corner of the bedframe. May I go now?" Lovina asked.

Antonio suddenly looked up at her (with those infuriating, amazing, worthless eyes) as if she snapped him back to reality. "What? Oh. Yes."

Lovina held out her hand.

Antonio stood up and looked at her hand blankly. "What?"

"Give me back the bandages so I can still use them," Lovina said.

The bastard's (awful, stunning, horrible) eyes widened. "But won't you get an infection if you reuse them?"

"It's your fault I have to reuse them in the first place." Lovina snatched the bandages out of the idiot's hand and knelt down to rewrap them around her leg, careful to keep the bloodstains away from where the gash was still open.

"So mean, Lovi." Antonio pouted. What sort of self-respecting adult with any dignity pouts like that?

Lovina snorted. "Well then, it's a good thing my job doesn't involve being nice." She fixed her pants leg, picked up the crate, and hurried under the deck before the bastard could say another word to her.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Feliciana was just so excited! She finally had something to do on the ship that she would be really, _really_ good at. She wasn't very good at carrying things that were really heavy, all but the simplest of knots confused her, and she was okay at some things (but they were things that everyone could do without a problem). But big brother Gilbert said that she would be "awesome" at this because she was small and had really good eyesight, vee.

So, earlier, Feli climbed her way up to the crow's nest (with Ludwig watching her worriedly from down below. He was just so nice!). All she had to do was keep a lookout and let the people down below know what they were coming towards. Feliciana wasn't sure that she could be loud enough for them to hear, but Lovi reassured her (it was something along the lines of "Oh, trust me, idiota, you can be fucking _eardrum-bursting_ when you want to be." Sorella was always so nice and encouraging, ve~).

But there was only water around them, so she decided to play the counting game. Nineteen people up on deck. One tiller (that's what she thought the steering-thingy was called, vee). Two sails were up.

A plunk on the top of her head distracted her. She looked up. Another plunk hit her on the nose. Raindrops, vee. That's two raindrops that hit her. Three raindrops, four raindrops, five, six, seven, eight, nine…

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Lovina walked without even looking up towards the door to her bunk she shared with Matthew and her sorellina. She was exhausted after all the work she had done today. She was about to open the door but instead of wood her hand hit something else. She looked up blearily, "What…?"

Antonio was in front of her, looking down at Lovina's hand on his chest.

Lovina jerked her hand back immediately and was suddenly more awake. She glared at him. "What do you want now, bastard? Just let me get some sleep already."

The bastard looked at her with those damned, wonderful, horrid eyes. "You can't sleep in there tonight, Lovi."

Lovina crossed her arms irritably. "And why the hell not, bastard?"

"Because Feli is sick, Lovi," he said. He stopped Lovina from rushing through the door.

Lovina struggled against his grip on her shoulders. "Let me go! I have to go take care of Feli, bastard!"

The captain shook his head. "I can't do that, Lovi. I need to keep as few people sick as possible."

"But then who is going to take care of he-him!?" That was close. She almost slipped and called Feliciana a girl. Maybe he would only think it was a stutter from worry.

Antonio's (terrible, lovely, appalling) eyes softened. "Don't worry, Lovi. Ludwig is taking care of him."

"That potato bastard!"

"Shh, Lovi," Antonio hushed. "You don't want to wake up Feli, do you?"

Lovina glared at him silently.

The bastard gave her a reassuring smile (and it did _not_ work! At all!). "Ludwig is the best person at treating sick people on the ship. Feli will be better in no time."

Lovina glowered at him. "Fine. But where am I going to sleep? And where is Matthew going to sleep?"

"Because Ludwig normally bunks with Gilbert, Matthew is just going to switch with him and sleep with Gilbert. And you're going to have to sleep with me," the bastard said.

Lovina's glare at him intensified.

"I had no other option!" he explained. "There's no other open sleeping space."

"Then I'll sleep on the deck," Lovina said icily.

"No you won't," Antonio said. "It's still raining off and on and I won't have another crewman getting sick."

Lovina muttered, "But at least that way I could stay with Feli…" But, nonetheless, she followed the bastard to his quarters. When she entered she stopped in her tracks.

There was only one bed.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter~ And now I force Lovina and Antonio to be together more often! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!(And Mattie and Gilbert... And Feli and Ludwig... I regret nothing!) I felt kind of bad to make Feli sick, but she'll be fine!  
**

**And trust me, it sucks to bruise and get a cut/gash at the same time. There was this one time I was doing Irish dance hard shoe drills and it hurt like crazy! (I think I still have the scar, actually...)  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed! (To be perfectly honest, I was (and still am) quite a bit shocked at how much love this story is getting ^^)  
**


	6. One Part Love, Two Parts Denial

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Feli didn't like to be sick. It made her throat sore and feel all scratchy, and her head felt like she got hit by her sorella when Lovina was angry with her. Except it was like the hit _never ended_, veee. But at least she had Ludwig to make sure she was okay. He was so nice! Feli already decided that Ludwig was her best friend ever, ve~. She'd never had a best friend before!

"Feliciano," Ludwig said. "You really should get some sleep."

Feli looked up at him with bright, brown eyes. "Vee, but I'm not sleepy, Ludwig!"

Ludwig sighed. "If you don't sleep you won't get better…"

"Vee! I'll sleep! I'll sleep!" Feli buried her head into her pillow and closed her eyes too tightly to actually be able to fall asleep.

Ludwig sighed again and slipped into what had been Matthew's bed.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

"I think I'll sleep on the floor," Mattie said. He was sitting on the bed next to the awesome Gilbert.

Gilbert looked up suddenly. "What? No you're not."

Mattie blushed. Damn! He was too adorable for his own good (Gilbert could think that if his awesomeness wanted to). "I-I c-couldn't be a b-bother." Why was he so nice, too?

"Nope! The awesome me insists that you take the bed."

Mattie shook his head and stood up to get off of the bed.

"Not so fast, Mattie," Gilbert pivoted on his foot and pressed Mattie down by his shoulders onto the bed. After less than half a moment, Gilbert realized the position he was in, standing over Matthew and _pinning him to the bed_. Gilbert quickly got off of him. "I-I insist. You take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor." And he did not stutter! Awesomeness does not show (or feel) nervousness!

"At least take the blanket," Mattie said.

Gilbert shook his head. "I'll be fine, Mattie! I'm too awesome to get cold."

"Please, Gilbert?" Mattie's innocent eyes were boring right through him.

Dammit. "Fine, I'll take the blanket." Gilbert put his hand out. "But if you get cold just take it from me, got it?"

Mattie smiled (mein Gott, that smile!) and handed it to him.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio had trouble identifying this feeling fluttering in his stomach (which seemed to be tying itself in knots). It wasn't quite nervous, and it also wasn't exactly excited. But one thing Antonio wanted to know (other than just _what_ this indescribable feeling was) was _why_ he was feeling the way that he was. He was just sleeping in the same bed as one of his crewmen. That's nothing to feel so strange about, right? He tried to convince himself of that, but this knotted up, fluttery feeling refused to die down. Antonio took off his shirt and slid into bed. If he didn't think about it, surely it must go away?

He felt the bed shift as Lovi must've gotten into bed. Antonio turned off the lantern. After a while, he turned over because the way he was before was uncomfortable. His eyes widened.

Lovi was just barely balanced on his side on the opposite edge of the bed. How did he even do that?

"Lovi?" Antonio tentatively whispered. If Lovi was asleep, Antonio didn't want to startle him into falling off.

"What the fuck do you want now, bastard?" Lovi hissed back.

"Why are you balanced on the edge of the bed, Lovi?" Antonio asked.

Even though Lovi was facing away, Antonio could still guess that he was glaring. "I like my personal space."

"But you sleep with Feli. Do you sleep on the edge of the bed when you're with Feli?"

"Feli is my fratellino. He is an exception," Lovi hissed.

"Loviii, get more onto the bed," Antonio whined.

"Fuck no, bastard. Why should I anyway?"

"I don't want you to fall off!" Antonio whispered. He grabbed Lovi around the waist to pull him away from the edge. He didn't want Lovi to hurt himself again.

Lovi shoved his arms away and stood up off of the bed.

"Lovi, where are you going?"

"Sleeping on the floor," he muttered irritably.

Antonio sat up. "Why are you doing that?"

"This way, I won't fall off of the bed and I get my personal space. Everybody wins. Now leave me alone and let me sleep." Lovi then lay down on the floor.

"Lovi, at least take a—"

"I said let me sleep, bastard!" Lovi hissed.

Antonio resisted the urge to sigh. He made himself more comfortable on the bed and murmured, "Good night, Lovi."

He got a quiet grunt in response.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Matthew opened his eyes blearily and put on his glasses. There was no one else in the room, so he shifted himself so his legs were hanging off of the edge of the bed and pushed himself up. He walked over to the door. Said door opened and Matthew found himself face-to-face (and extremely close) to Gilbert. Matthew felt his cheeks warm. "Oh! Good morning, Gilbert."

Gilbert grinned. "Morning, Mattie. Is my awesome allowed to enter my own bunk?"

Matthew's cheeks got even warmer as he hurried to out of Gilbert's way. "I-I'm sorry."

"No need to be, Mattie."

"But what are doing up and about so early? I-if you don't mind me asking, o-of course," Matthew said.

"I was keeping watch," Gilbert said.

"Keeping watch?"

"Ja. Ludwig would get the first half of the night watch and I would get the second half. That's why we only have one bed," Gilbert explained.

Matthew nodded. "That does make sense."

"But," Gilbert sighed, "Ludwig was taking care of Feli last night, so he couldn't wake me up and I slept in. The guy filling in for Ludwig was so un-awesomely angry about it, too. I guess he just can't handle my awesome, kesesesese~"

Matthew smiled. It was so nice how Gilbert was always so confident and it seemed like nothing daunted him. But then he remembered. "Oh! I feel bad for Ludwig and the captain this morning, though."

Gilbert raised a pale eyebrow. "And why is that, Mattie?"

Matthew bit his lip. How could he possibly explain it? "Feli and Lovino act very interestingly when they wake up…"

"Not exactly morning people, huh?"

Matthew shook his head. "It's not that… It's just… they sort of switch personalities for a few seconds after someone wakes them up."

Gilbert looked at him with his blood red eyes. "You're kidding."

Matthew shook his head. "I-it's true! I've woken them up before and it's really freaky!"

Gilbert laughed (Oh no, Gilbert didn't believe him). "That's awesome." (…or not)

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Ludwig's eyes snapped open and he woke up promptly at sunrise, as he was accustomed to. He looked to his side. Feliciano was still sleeping. That was good; Feliciano would get better that way.

Ludwig stood up and swept his hair back with one hand. He decided to take a better look at his temporary charge. Feliciano was sound asleep, and his clothes were drenched from sweating out his fever. Ludwig pressed the back of his hand to Feliciano's forehead. The brunette had cooled down some, but he was still not well enough to get back to work.

Ludwig decided to change Feliciano into clean, dry clothes. He grabbed one of Feliciano's shirts and a pair of his pants and pulled the sheet off of him. He gently slid his arm under Feliciano's shoulders and carefully pushed so that the brunette was sitting up, still asleep.

As Ludwig started to lift up the brunette's shirt, he saw out of the corner of his eye Feliciano blink a few times sleepily.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, bastard?" a voice asked darkly.

Ludwig quickly looked around. Lovino wasn't here. He looked at Feliciano, who was _glaring at him_. Ludwig quickly pulled his arms back to his own person. "I was changing your clothes. Those ones are drenched."

Feliciano blinked and cocked his head to the side. "Ludwig, why are you so pale? Veee, I didn't get you sick, did I?" He sniffed once tearfully.

Ludwig shook his head. "No, no, I'm fine."

Feliciano gave him a stern look (or, rather, his own version of a stern look which involved him furrowing his brow and pouting slightly). "You should go outside."

"What?"

"Vee, I want you to get some fresh air! I don't want you to get sick. So, you should go outside for a few minutes and get some fresh air," Feliciano said.

Ludwig sighed. "I'll be fine, Feliciano."

"But if you get sick it'll be all my fault!" he pouted and tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.

Why did Ludwig care if the brunette was so upset? But he couldn't stand Feliciano's pouting (or the idea that he might even _cry_). Ludwig sighed. "Fine, I will go outside. But only for a few minutes."

Feliciano immediately brightened up. "Ve~, grazie, Ludwig!"

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio stared at Lovi who was still asleep on the floor. He was having a bit of an internal dilemma: to wake, or not to wake Lovi. On one hand, Lovi looked so peaceful when he was sleeping (not angry for once). It would be a shame to change that on purpose. On the other hand, Lovi would be mad at Antonio for letting him sleep in (angrier than his constant state of irritation, at least). _And_, Antonio didn't like Lovi sleeping on the floor (he would catch cold!).

Antonio had decided: he would wake Lovi.

Lovi seemed like the type of person who would be particularly violent in the morning, or swear more. Antonio braced himself as he walked as quietly as possible towards the sleeping figure on the floor. He knelt down next to Lovi. Maybe Antonio would be lucky and Lovi would be one of those people who acted dead towards the world when they first woke up.

Antonio put a hand on Lovi's shoulder and shook it gently. "Wake up, Lovi."

Lovi blinked his eyes open and smiled brightly. "Good morning, captain!" And then he wrapped his arms around Antonio in a hug.

Antonio stood stock still and his face felt like it was on fire. Lovi must be horribly, horribly sick! That's the only explanation! (But if he was sick, why were Antonio's arms wrapping around him? It must be to help take care of him…)

Lovi struggled in Antonio's grasp (he didn't have the nerve to call it a hug… which it wasn't anyways!). "What the fuck are you doing? Let go of me you bastard!" Lovi finally broke Antonio's grip and fell back onto the floor. He glared angrily at the captain.

"Lovi, are you sick?" Antonio asked.

"What sort of question is that? I'm fine, bastard!"

"Are you sure, Lovi? Why did you hug me earlier then?"

"I did no such thing!" Lovi yelled. His face was as red as a tomato (how cute~).

Antonio resisted the urge to tell Lovi that he did, indeed, hug him. Antonio sighed. "Fine, you didn't hug me." Why did saying that make him feel so defeated? He tried to cheer up. "But you're awake now, Lovi, so you might as well get to work!"

Lovi glared at him. "Bastard."

Antonio laughed. At least Lovi wasn't sick!

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter! I think this one is really amusing ^^  
**

**And I'm sorry it took me longer than it should have to update! But... life came up (and it wasn't too pleased with me when it finally caught up to me)  
**

**Thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel like I have been elevated from the status of England's scones to pasta (Ve~)  
**


	7. Need to Be More Careful

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Matthew shook his hand after he stabbed his finger with the needle yet again. "Remind me again why I'm doing mending duty with you again."

"Because you're a fucking good person," Lovina said. "And you can't say no to Feli."

"Feli," Matthew said, "Why are the two of us helping Lovino with mending duty?" Lovina insisted that Matthew used the masculine version of her name in case someone overheard. "It's supposed to be _his_ punishment."

"Veee, I couldn't leave fratello to do all of this by himself!" Feli gestured (somewhat wildly) to the piles of ripped clothes around them.

Matthew looked at her. "And you dragged me into this, too, because…"

"Because you weren't doing anything else," Feli said. "And you're our friend, ve~"

"Err… thanks?"

"You're welcome, Mattie!" Feli chirped.

"Kesesesese~"

Lovina didn't even bother to look up from her work. "What the fuck do you want now, bastard?"

Gilbert walked into the room. "The awesome me was just curious, what do you think of Lars' new hair?" he asked.

Feli beamed. "It was really funny how his hair turned green, ve~"

Matthew smiled. "It was pretty funny."

Gilbert grinned at Matthew (who did not blush at that! Of course not!). "Awesome."

Lovina looked up at him. "You were the one that did it, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was. Wasn't it awesome?" Gilbert peered over her shoulder and down at the shirt she was repairing.

Lovina crossed her arms and glared at him. "Why the hell did you frame me for it, bastard? Now I have to fucking fix all of these damn ripped pieces of shit!"

Gilbert shrugged and backed away slightly. "I didn't try to frame you specifically, I was just trying to frame anyone but the awesome me."

"Hmph." Lovina violently stabbed at the shirt with her needle.

"Kesesesese~ The three of you sewing together makes you look like girls." Gilbert smirked.

Matthew bit the inside of his lip. Hopefully, Lovina wouldn't blow up at him too much.

"Shut the fuck up, bastard." Lovina glared and pointed her needle at him threateningly. "Or I'll stab Matthew with this."

"Why me!" Matthew yelped. Lovina's logic didn't make any sense sometimes.

"Because," Lovina said, still not lowering her needle, "I know he won't care it I stab him somewhere non-vital, but he'll care if I stab _you_ anywhere."

Matthew's cheeks warmed. "That's complete nonsense, Lovino." There was no way that could be the case.

Lovina smirked at Gilbert. "Let's test that theory, shall we?" She lifted the needle slightly before making to stab Matthew in the shoulder with it.

Gilbert lunged forward. "Wait!"

Lovina stopped the needle when it was just barely touching Matthew's shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at Gilbert. "Yes?"

The albino glared at Lovina (and why was his face so red?). "I take it back."

Lovina looked very smug.

"But, even still, you're lucky you aren't girls," Gilbert said.

"Veee, how come, big brother Gilbert?" Feli asked.

"Because, Feli," Gilbert said, "The captain is very superstitious. It's pretty un-awesome of him, actually."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Matthew asked.

"Well, Mattie, some people, including Antonio, believe it's bad luck to have a female on board of a ship."

Matthew cast a quick glance at the disguised sisters. "Well then, it's a good thing we don't have any girls on board, or else the captain would throw a fit."

Gilbert nodded. "He sure would! Kesesesese~"

"Veee, big brother Gilbert, what are you supposed to be doing now?" Feli asked.

Gilbert's eyes widened the slightest bit. "On my way to meet with Antonio. See you later, Mattie." He strolled out of the room and down the hall.

Once Gilbert was gone Lovina looked up at her sister and Matthew. "We have to make sure we're even more careful now."

Feliciana cocked her head to the side. "Vee, how come, fratello?"

Lovina glared at her slightly. "You heard what the albino potato said! The captain's superstitious. If he finds out we're girls, who knows what he'll do."

"Oh, ok, fratello," Feli said dreamily. It looked like Lovina and Matthew would still have to watch her and make sure she didn't slip up.

Matthew gave Lovina a look. "Why'd you almost stab me?"

She shrugged. "I already said that he wouldn't give a damn if I stabbed him, so I decided to stab you instead."

"But how does that make any sense?" Matthew asked. There were times he thought that she must be absolutely insane.

"For some people—"

"Like fratello!" Feli added.

"Yes, yes, like me," Lovina conceded. "For some people, it hurts worse to have someone they care about in pain instead of themselves in pain."

Matthew blushed. "B-but Gilbert couldn't possibly care about me like that! I-I mean, really—"

Lovina put up a hand. "Please. He obviously cares about and likes you."

Matthew looked at her incredulously. "How can you tell?" Not that there would be anything to discern in the first place!

Lovina shrugged.

"Fratello has always been good at seeing these things, ve~" Feli chirped.

Matthew looked at Lovina again. "But you're sure that…"

Lovina scoffed. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure. He's almost as fucking obvious about liking you as you are about liking him."

Matthew's face flared bright red. He wasn't obvious, right? N-not that there was anything to be obvious about, but still…

Lovina rolled her eyes. "How pathetic."

"What's pathetic?" Matthew was taken aback. He wasn't being pathetic, r-right?

"It just pisses me off how people can be in such fucking deep denial about these things."

"So, you have no problem with love itself?" Matthew asked her. That didn't seem quite right.

"Of course not!" Lovina snapped. "Love pisses me off with its idiocy, but cowardice pisses me off almost as fucking much."

Matthew shrank back into his seat.

"Veee, fratello, at least give Mattie a chance with it," Feliciana whined. "Nothing bad has happened to him with it yet."

Lovina gave her sister the stink eye. "That doesn't mean it won't."

"Ve~, fratello is worried for Mattie," Feli cooed. She turned to Matthew. "That means you're like famiglia now! Fratello only ever worried this much about nonno and me! Would you be our fratello? Veee, or our cugino or maybe fratellastro…" She continued to ramble to herself.

Matthew turned to Lovina. "Then what about the captain?"

She returned to her mending work. "What about the bastard?"

"Does he like you?" Matthew asked. Antonio certainly acted like it sometimes.

Lovina spluttered. "_Che cosa?_" She shook her head roughly (and her face was rather red). "Fuck no! He's just an idiotic bastard who doesn't understand the concept of personal space."

"Ve! I know!" Feli cheered.

Matthew and Lovina looked at her. Matthew asked her, "What?" What was Feli talking about, anyway?

Feliciana beamed. "You're our fratello adottivo! Ve~"

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio rubbed his forehead. As much as he liked to work with his best friend, and as helpful as he could be sometimes, Gilbert was still a hassle. They butted heads relatively often, and both of them were very stubborn. Most of the time Antonio didn't mind it, he could even enjoy it, but today he was just so tired.

He opened the door to his bunk (a quick rest would do him some good) and he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Lovi was changing his shirt, but… why did he need so many bandages?!

Antonio rushed over to where Lovi was standing. "Lovi! Are you okay?"

Lovi quickly pulled on his clean shirt to hide his bandages. "Dammit, bastard! Don't just barge in."

"Lovi," Antonio said. "You didn't answer my question. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, bastard." Lovi glared at him.

"Did someone hurt you?" Antonio asked. If someone did, they wouldn't be living much longer. A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.

Lovi narrowed his eyes. "No, I'm fine," he ground out. He tried to walk away but Antonio grabbed him by the wrist. Lovi struggled to get free. "Dammit, bastard! Let the fuck go."

Antonio tightened his grip on Lovi's wrist and looked him in the eyes. His voice lowered. "_Lovino_, you're not lying to me are you? No one hurt you?"

"I'm fine," Lovi grunted.

Why was he refusing to make eye contact? Did Lovi not trust him? Did whoever it was who hurt Lovi threaten him into secrecy? The idea made Antonio's blood boil and his grip tightened subconsciously. "Then why do you need so many bandages? How did you hurt yourself?"

"I-it's an old injury. It acts up and reopens easily," Lovi claimed. "Now let me go."

Antonio stared at him. "Let me see the injury." Then he would be able to tell whether it was actually old or not. Lovi probably would never admit it if he was hurt or if someone hurt him.

"Fuck no!" Lovi hissed. "Let me go now, bastard."

"Why won't you let me see the injury? Maybe I can help."

Lovi glared at him. "You're hurting my arm, bastard."

Antonio looked down and realized just how tightly he was holding onto Lovi's wrist. He immediately let go. Lovi's wrist was red and would most likely bruise. "I'm sorry, Lovi."

Lovi stopped rubbing his wrist and looked at Antonio. He nodded once. "Just be more careful, idiot." He walked out of the room.

* * *

**A/N: More pirate!Spain~~~**

**For those of you who are curious (and who don't know Italian), the various names Feli was saying Matthew might be (in order of appearance) are: brother, cousin, stepbrother/half-brother, and adopted brother.**

**Ooh! And did anyone notice a drew a cover for this story? Earlier this week I felt like drawing, so I drew this cover, a corpse, and magical lights (my mind does not have a linear train of thought...). But why is pirate!Spain's amazing-ness so hard to draw? OnO  
**

**The next chapter shall have a lot more Feli and Ludwig, and it will be very fun C:  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel how Sealand would feel if England recognized him as a country~  
**


	8. This Does Not Bode Well for Ludwig

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia (surprise, surprise)**

* * *

Gilbert did a double-take when Ludwig walked past him that morning. "Lutz! What happened to you?"

Ludwig remained facing away from him. "Nothing. I'm fine, bruder."

"Ludwig, look at me."

The younger brother sighed and faced the more awesome elder. The skin around his eye was purpling quite badly.

Gilbert's eyes narrowed. "Who was so un-awesome to hit you?" He would make sure that whoever the un-awesome ass that hurt his little bruder would pay for it.

Ludwig's cheeks flared. "You don't have to worry about it, Gilbert."

"Who was it?"

Lovino laughed (now that he thought about it, Gilbert doesn't think he's ever heard Lovino laugh before).

Gilbert scowled at him. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Lovino shook his head (but he was still smirking). "I fucking wish, but no. I have a pretty damn good idea of who it was, though."

Gilbert glared at Lovino. "Who punched him then?"

Feli (who happened to be walking by) stopped and pouted. "Veee, I already said I was sorry…"

Gilbert blinked and then looked between Feli and Ludwig a few times. He stared at Feli disbelievingly. "_You_ punched Ludwig in the face?"

Feli nodded and "ve"-ed sadly. "But I apologized right after!"

Ludwig's face turned even redder.

Lovino rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't have apologized for it."

Gilbert looked at Feli questioningly. "But why?"

"Because I was sorry!" Feli chirped.

Gilbert shook his head. "Eh, no… the awesome me meant why did you punch him in the first place?"

"Oh! Well, to be honest, I'm not sure myself, vee." Feli cocked his head to the side.

Gilbert thought for a moment, and he had a sudden (awesome) realization. "Was it right after you woke up?"

Feli nodded. "Ve! How did you know? Are you psychic, big brother Gilbert?"

"Kesesesese~ I'm not psychic, Feli, I'm just awesome. So awesome, if fact, that I forgive you for punching Ludwig in the face."

Feli looked up at him with wide eyes. "Really? Grazie! Ve~"

Ludwig sighed and shook his head.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

"Veee, I need to tell two you something," Feli said. She looked a little nervous. Why would she be?

Matthew and Lovina looked at her. Matthew asked her. "Okay, what is it, Feli?"

Feli glanced at the captain who was nearby. She whispered, "Only you two can hear it, vee." She led Matthew and Lovina a little farther away, but the captain came over.

"What are you three doing?" he asked.

"Vee, I'm sorry but it's a famiglia-only conversation, captain," Feli said.

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "Then why is Matthew still here if it's only for your famiglia?"

Matthew resisted the urge to yelp when the captain's focus was turned to him.

"That's because he _is_ famiglia, bastard." Lovina glared at the captain.

The captain blinked a few times. "…Really?"

"Ve~ he's our fratello adottivo," Feli chirped.

Was that his title now? And Lovina even said so? But maybe it was only to get the captain to go away…

Antonio looked at Matthew (why was his expression so intimidating all of a sudden?). "Did you know you were their family?"

Matthew nodded. "I-I have been for a few days now, captain…"

The captain's brow furrowed. "I see…" But then he suddenly brightened up. "Well, after your 'famiglia-only' conversation, make sure you get back to work."

Matthew and Feli nodded and Lovina grumbled something (with several swear words in it).

The captain only laughed at her temper. He turned around and left.

Lovina glared in his direction before turning back to Matthew and her sister. "So what was it that you wanted to tell us, Feli?"

She looked at her feet. "Ah, well, you see, it's about Ludwig…" She "ve"-ed nervously.

"What the fuck did he do to you?" Lovina growled.

Feli's head snapped up. "Nothing! He didn't do anything to me, fratello, I promise."

"Then what?" Matthew asked.

"Veee, he… uh, well, he knows," Feli finally said.

Lovina's face flared bright red. Matthew could tell she was about to scream and yell profanities to kingdom come, so he clamped his hand over her mouth.

She was still quite loud, but she could have been much worse without her curses muffled. She glared at Matthew venomously and bit at the inside of his hand.

Matthew yanked his hand back and gave her a look.

Lovina turned to her sister. "How does the bastard know? Did he do anything to you? Has he told anyone? He had better not tell a single damn _soul_. And if the potato bastard did anything to you I'll fucking kill him, bring him back to life, and kill him again."

Feli's eyes widened. "No! Don't do that to Ludwig! Veee, he didn't do anything to me and he pinky promised not to tell anybody."

Matthew looked at Feli (and decided to respond to this calmly and rationally). "Then how does he know?"

Feli looked at her feet again. She mumbled, "Vee, I told him…"

Matthew immediately clamped his hand over Lovina's mouth (this time with his hand cupped so she couldn't bite him) before she could screech again.

Lovina glared at him and yanked his hand away. "Why the hell did you do that?" she hissed.

Feli's eyes watered. "B-because… v-veee… because…"

Matthew patted her on the shoulder. "It's okay, Feli. I'm sure that you did it for a good reason. And Lovino will understand, _right?_" He shot a look at her.

Lovina glared at him for a moment. "Right." She turned to Feli. "So just tell us why you told him."

"Because he's my best friend, veee…" Feli said. Her best friend? "And I felt really awful about lying to him and he's super smart so he would probably find out eventually anyway and I trust him and it made me hurt to think I was lying to him about anything at all, vee."

Matthew patted her on the shoulder again. "That's okay, Feli. How did he respond?"

"He was super surprised, vee, and his face got really, really red!" She giggled even though tears remained in the corners of her eyes.

"You say he is your best friend?" Lovina asked.

Feli nodded. "He is, ve~"

"_Only_ your best friend?" Lovina asked. What was she getting at?

"Of course! Vee, don't be silly, fratello," Feli said.

Matthew looked at Lovina. "Just what are you so worried about anyway?" There was a chance that Feli and Ludwig _might_ get romantically involved, but that was pretty unlikely, right?

Lovina watched her sister warily. "I don't want another situation like the boy with the black cape…"

Feli shook her head violently. "It's nothing like that, fratello!" Did she seem… upset? "It's nothing like that at all." Feli didn't even "ve" once.

"What happened with the boy with the black cape?" Matthew asked.

Lovina raised her hand. "Maybe another time, Matthew."

Feli looked at Lovina with wide eyes. "Fratello, I promise that my best-friendship with Ludwig is nothing at all like what happened with the boy with the black cape."

Lovina nodded. "I'm going to go talk to him."

"Vee, don't hurt him, fratello!"

Lovina sighed. "I'm not going to yet, Feli. I just need him to understand just how secret this needs to be and what will happen if he lets a single fucking _syllable_ slip."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Lovina stormed up to Ludwig. "You, potato bastard, I need to have a word with you."

Ludwig looked at her. "Then go ahead and speak. I'm listening."

"In private," she hissed as she led him to his and Feli's bunk.

"What is this about, Lovino?"

She turned and glared at him. "About what Feli told you."

Ludwig's face flared. "V-very well then," he managed to say.

"So," Lovina said, "What was it _exactly_ that Feli told you, potato sucker?"

"She told me that both you and she were actually girls. She also made me promise not to tell a single person, which I have upheld."

Lovina rested her hands on her hips. "Did she tell you anything else?"

Ludwig shook his head. "I decided not to ask for details."

Lovina nodded. "Good." She looked up and glared at him fiercely. "Now, potato bastard, I want you to understand this, so you'd better listen." She stalked over to him, and even though she was just shorter than his shoulder height, she was still _very_ intimidating. "If you so much as _consider_ telling a single damn soul, I'll rip out your teeth and shred your vocal cords with them."

Ludwig seemed to remain unaffected, but Lovina still caught the motion of his Adam's apple when he dry-swallowed.

She smirked, but then she changed her expression to a scowl. "Now, why _did_ you promise to Feli that you wouldn't tell?" The fucking potato couldn't possibly have a good reason to.

"Sh-she's my friend…" There he goes with that damn blushing again.

"And?" Lovina raised an eyebrow.

"And what?"

Lovina glared. "You were about to say something else, and I want to know what the hell it was."

"Nothing," Ludwig insisted. "It was nothing."

Lovina glowered at him and lowered her voice. "Just know this, potato, do a single fucking thing to hurt my sorellina, on purpose or not, and I _will_ castrate you will a rusty nail. But I'll only be so damn merciful is Feli begs me not to kill you multiple times in ways even more painful than what's even fucking imaginable."

"I wouldn't do anything to hurt Feliciano," Ludwig said.

"You'd better damn hope so, potato sucker. You'd better damn hope so."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Feliciana hummed as she worked.

"Hey there, Feli."

Feli stopped what she was doing (what was she supposed to be doing again?). "Ve~ Hi, big brother Gilbert! How are you?"

"Kesesesese~ Awesome is awesome, as usual. The awesome me was just wondering if I knew you from before," Gilbert said.

What? Veee, there was no way that Gilbert could know her as 'Feliciano' before… So maybe he knew as 'Feliciana'? Ve! That's bad! "Vee, I don't think so, big brother Gilbert." Veee, but she doesn't remember anyone like him from before, so hopefully it wasn't true.

"Hmmm…" Gilbert rested his chin on his fist. "Ah! The awesome me knows! You remind me of a kid Ludwig knew when he was little."

Veee, she was pretty sure she didn't know anybody named Ludwig when she was little… Maybe when she was a boy with sorella? "Vee, really?"

"Yeah," Gilbert said. "But it probably wasn't you, because it was a girl."

Feli laughed. She was all worried over nothing! She _knows_ she didn't know anybody named Ludwig as a girl. "Ve~ you're right, big brother Gilbert. It couldn't have been me."

"Kesesesese~ do you want to know what Ludwig was like when he was little?"

Feli nodded happily. Gilbert probably knew some really funny stories, too, ve~

"Hmm, let's see… He was still all strict and paid attention to the rules like he un-awesomely does now. He was really shy and always freaked out when he had to meet other kids. And the poor kid couldn't draw to save his life. He tried to draw a rabbit once and it looked like deer antlers, kesesesese~… Oh yeah, and he always wore this black hat and cape everywhere."

…What. Feli tried to keep her smile from faltering. "V-vee? Really, big brother Gilbert?"

"He sure did!"

Now that she thought about it… Ludwig _did_ look a lot like the boy with the black cape. If she tried to imagine Ludwig wearing a black hat and cape…. No. No, no, no, no, no! It can't be. If Ludwig was… It couldn't be! That meant he didn't keep his pinky promise!

"Vee, sorry, big brother Gilbert, but I have to go now."

Gilbert nodded. "Okay, Feli."

Feli turned around and started walking. This… just…. It just couldn't be! It was impossible! She really hoped that it was.

* * *

**A/N: Poor Feli... I promise it's for the GerIta! It will happen! Also, is it a bad thing that I had quite a bit of fun coming up with Lovina's threats..?  
**

**I would have updated this yesterday, but stuff came up. And! School is starting soon. I'm not sure how long it will take for me to update once it does, but I suspect I'll still be able to update at least once a week. Once I get back into the flow of things I can give you a more accurate idea.  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel how Veneziano would if 'Doitsu' made pasta just for him~  
**


	9. Realizations

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Matthew looked around frantically. Where was Lovina? When he finally found her, she was arguing with the captain. He ran over towards them. "Lovino!"

She turned around and glared at him. "What?"

"It's… Feli," Matthew managed to say while still catching his breath.

Lovina's face darkened and she stalked over to him. "What the hell happened?"

"I-I don't know," Matthew said. "He's in his bunk, very upset, and refusing to let anyone in."

Lovina's eyebrows furrowed and she hurried past Matthew.

The captain looked at Matthew. "What's going on?"

"I r-really don't know," Matthew said. "All I know is that Feli is upset and I guessed that Lovino would know either what was going on or what to do…"

Antonio sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Just as I was getting some progress, too…"

Matthew looked at him. "Progress with what, exactly?"

"I was just about to convince Lovi not to sleep on the floor anymore."

So that's what they were arguing about this time? "Wait, you mean that Lovino's been sleeping on the floor?" Why did she decide to do that? And for how long has she been doing it?

Antonio nodded. "Sadly, yes. He's going to get sick that way!"

"If you want, I could talk to him about it," Matthew offered.

The captain looked at him for a moment. "How did you manage to get so close to Lovi?"

Matthew shrugged. "I-I don't really know, captain. I j-just sort of did it, eh?" Why did Antonio seem annoyed by this answer? "And, I don't mean to b-be nosy, captain, but why do you care?"

Matthew could have sworn that Antonio glared at him for a second. And it was absolutely _terrifying_. But then he suddenly smiled. "Oh, no reason, Matthew. I was just curious."

What on earth was going on with him?

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

"Feliciano!" Lovina slammed her fist on the door for the umpteenth time in the last minute. "Open the door _this fucking instant!_"

There was no response from inside.

"Dammit, Feli! If you don't let me inside in the next three seconds I will bust this damn piece of shit door down!"

Still no response.

Lovina lowered her voice until it would only just be understandable through the piece of wood between her and her sorellina. "I will never let you eat any pasta ever again."

Lovina could hear the soft shuffling of feet against the floor and she waited impatiently for Feli to open the door.

Feli only opened it a few centimeters and she looked out with one eye. "What do you want?" Her throat was hoarse (from crying, most likely).

Lovina slid her foot into the gap. "To talk."

"… Don't want to," Feli mumbled and tried to close the door despite Lovina's foot in the way.

Lovina pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Feli breathed a dissatisfied "vee", closed the door again and replaced the piece of wood she used to jam to door shut.

Lovina looked at her. "So what happened?"

Feli looked at the floor. "…Nothing."

Lovina walked over to her and used her index finger to lift up her sorellina's chin. "You were always such a horrible liar," she said softly.

Feli pouted. She started strongly, "It's just—" She looked down. "… I don't know."

Lovina guided her over to the bed and sat her down. "Well, obviously you must know something or else there would be nothing for you to be upset about."

"I'm not upset!" Feli argued.

Lovina raised an eyebrow. "Then what are you?"

Feli's brow furrowed. "…confused?" she offered.

"Well, being confused has never stopped you before, Feli," Lovina said.

"But this is different, vee."

Lovina sat down next to her. "Then explain it to me."

Feli bit her lip and shook her head.

Lovina lowered her voice again. "Feliciana Alice Vargas, neither of us will leave this room until you tell me what is wrong. I have no problem with waiting. So, tell me, maybe I can help."

Feli sighed. "Veee, it's about the boy with the black cape…"

Lovina looked at her. "And?"

Feliciana shrunk back defensively. "And what?"

"It can't only be about the boy with the black cape. What else is bothering you?"

"Ludwig…" Feli mumbled.

"What the fuck did he do?" Lovina ground out through gritted teeth.

Feli looked up at Lovina pitifully. "…He broke his promise, veee."

Lovina stood up, absolutely fuming. She tried to control the volume of her voice. "He _told?_" The potato was dead. No, worse than dead. Lovina wasn't completely sure what that would involve, exactly, but she would make it happen and then some to that thrice be-damned fucking potato shit bastard. And to whomever the hell it was that he told.

Feliciana shook her head. "No! No, I don't think so, anyway, vee…"

Lovina took a deep breath. "Then who broke what promise?"

"Well," Feli hiccupped, "You remember that the boy in the black cape promised he would come back, right?"

Lovina remembered alright. Feli never shut up about it for years after he had left. She just nodded.

"Well, veee, he broke his promise…"

Not coming back for eight years counted as promise already broken in her books, but Lovina decided not to mention that. "What makes you say that?"

"Be-because… I think Ludwig is," Feli hiccupped again, "the boy in the black cape…"

Lovina's eyebrows shot up. Well, that was… unexpected, to say the fucking least. But it must be horrible for Feli. She rubbed her sorellina's back with a hand. "What makes you say that, bambina?"

Feli sniffled. "Well, big brother Gilbert was telling me about what Ludwig was like when he was little and it sounded like him and big brother Gilbert said he always wore a black hat and cape and, veee, Ludwig looks a lot like him!" Her voice suddenly lowered. "How could he break his promise like that, sorella?"

Lovina wrapped her arms around her and ran her hand through Feli's hair. "Shhh, bambina, shhh. It's okay…"

"B-b-but—"

"No," Lovina said. "Everything is okay, bambina. I'm sure there's a good reason he didn't come back." Feli opened her mouth but Lovina continued, "A good reason that doesn't involve him getting killed or finding someone he likes better than you, capisce?"

Feli nodded slowly.

"And," Why the hell was she going to say this? For her sorellina. Anything and everything for her sorellina. "Even if Ludwig is him, he still did keep his promise, in a way…"

Feli looked up at her with bright, hopeful eyes. "How, sorella?"

Lovina really, really didn't want to say anything even remotely positive about the potato, but if would make her precious sorellina feel better … "You and the boy with the black cape made a pinky promise, yes?"

Feli nodded.

"Well, I'll tell you a secret, Feli. Pinky promises can never be broken, even if one of the people in the promise really wants to."

"Vee, how, sorella?"

"It's magical, bambina."

Feli turned starry-eyed with wonder. "Vee, really, sorella?"

Lovina nodded. "Really. I know all about these sort of things, Feli. So, when you think about it, _if_ Ludwig was the boy with the black cape, he did come back to you, just in a different way than you expected."

Feli's smile was blinding. She "vee"-ed happily.

Lovina kissed her sorellina on the temple. "Now get some rest, bambina. I'll come up with something to tell everyone to explain your behavior today."

Feli lay down. "Vee, grazie. Ti amo, sorella."

"Ti amo anch'io, sorellina." Lovina pulled the blanket over her and walked out of the room.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio spotted Lovi walking on the deck (not that he was waiting for him to show up… of course not…). He called out. "Lovi!"

He kept walking, even though he _must_ have heard his name.

"Wait, Lovi." Antonio walked over to him (at a perfectly calm and normal pace… he didn't rush or hurry at all…). "How is Feliciano?"

Lovi stopped and glared at him. "He's fine now, bastard."

"What was wrong?"

"Just bad childhood memories he was overwhelmed by," Lovi said.

"They must have been very bad. What were they about?" Antonio asked. What if Lovi had similar bad memories? Or worse ones! Lovi seemed like he would try and keep everything too horrible away from Feli. Lovi needed to look out for himself more. What if he ended up getting hurt?

"He was reminded of our nonna's death. He misses her very much," Lovi said.

Oh. That wasn't too terrible for his Lovi—no! Not _his_ Lovi, just Lovi. Why did he think that Lovi was his? "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that she's gone. You must miss her, too."

"Hardly at all, bastard. She preferred Feli and mostly ignored me, so I never was all that fucking close to her." Lovi walked away.

How could anyone like anyone else more than _Lovi_? Even Feli. It seemed absolutely impossible to Antonio.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Ludwig stood in front of the door. Should he go in? He and Feliciano (he never did learn her real name) had agreed that she would keep herself decent and would only change in the morning once he had left, but what if she forgot? She was very oblivious sometimes (more like all of the time, if he were to tell the truth). He decided he should go in. Feliciano had said that she keeps her bandages on at all times, so even if he did walk in on… her changing… he wouldn't see anything.

Ludwig walked in and Feliciano was sitting in her bunk. She looked up. "Vee, hi, Ludwig!"

"Hello, Feliciano," Ludwig said. He made his way over to his own bunk and pulled off his boots.

"Vee, do you remember much from when you were little, Ludwig?"

Ludwig's brow furrowed. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just curious, vee," she said.

Did her "vee" seem nervous? It was probably nothing. Feliciano was almost always ready to burst with energy. "Well, I don't remember much of anything from was I was a child."

She tilted her head to the side. "How come?"

"When I was ten I hit my head on a rock. I can't remember anything at all from before then."

Her eyes widened. "Veee, really?"

Ludwig nodded. "Ja, but according to Gilbert, after I came to, I refused to let go of a broom. He still teases me about it sometimes."

"A broom?" Feliciano asked and looked at him intently. "Vee, was it a push broom?"

Why was she so excited about a broom? "Ja… it was. Why do you ask?"

She blinked once, twice, and then her cheeks suddenly turned slightly pink. "No reason! How was your day, vee?"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in subject. "How did you know it was a push broom?"

"Lucky guess, vee?"

"Feliciano," Ludwig said. "What are you trying not to tell me?"

"Nothing!"

"Feliciano…" Ludwig said again.

"Vee, well, you see, it's just that I'm pretty sure I knew you when you were little…" She smiled sheepishly.

Ludwig blinked. That was not what he was expecting. "Really?"

Feliciano nodded. "Really! And I was the one to give you the push broom, vee~."

Ludwig blushed. Part of what Gilbert teased him about was that his crush had given him the push broom, and that even after he had lost all of his memories, he had still clung to it. Was Feliciano his crush from when he was a child? Oh gott. "Well, uh, good night, Feliciano."

"Vee, good night, Ludwig!"

* * *

**A/N: Aaaaaaand another chapter! I'm sorry this took so long, but I'm just getting back into the swing of school and I think I've been getting too much homework for how early it is in the year -.- I couldn't do any writing at all this whole week until today! *le gasp***

**But, anyway, I think bigsister!Lovina is absolutely diabeties-inducing... And the next chapter will have lots of Antonio! Hooray!  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel how Spain does whenever Romano openly shows him affection~ (read: so incredibly happy that the Sun seems like a dying candle in comparison)  
**


	10. Is It That Obvious?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Antonio most definitely did _not_ take advantage of how Lovi acted when he first woke up. Of course not. That would be horrible.

But that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it… right?

Antonio turned over to look at Lovi (who finally agreed to stop sleeping on the floor~ (Antonio was only happy about that because it meant Lovi wouldn't get sick… It had nothing to do with being able to share a bed with Lovi… at all…)). He was still asleep.

Antonio mentally prepared himself to wake Lovi up (it also definitely wasn't his favorite part of every day… not even close). He sat up and leaned over slightly. "Lovi?"

Lovi turned onto his side towards Antonio, but didn't look like he was going to wake up.

"Lovi, wake up," Antonio said again, shaking his shoulder gently.

"Five more minutes, Nonno…" Lovi mumbled.

Antonio chuckled (Lovi was so cute~). "Lovi, you have to wake up."

"But, Nonno…" Lovi mumbled again, "I don't want to have to see my bastard fiancé…"

His bastard _what?_ Antonio let go of Lovi's shoulder.

Lovi blinked his eyes open. "Good morning, captain," he chirped.

Antonio barely even blinked at Lovi's hug. Lovi had a fiancée? He was _engaged?_

"What the fuck is up with you, bastard?"

Antonio was drawn out of his thoughts. "H-huh?"

"You were staring off into space, bastard." Lovi glared at him.

Antonio grinned. "Were you worried about your captain, Lovi?"

Lovi's face flared (how adorable~). "F-fuck no, bastard!"

Antonio's grin widened. "So you were?"

"I said no such damn thing!" Lovi hurried out of the bunk.

It was so much fun for Antonio to tease his Lov—no. It wasn't _his_ Lovi. Because Lovi was supposed to get _married_.

That bothered Antonio for the remainder of the morning. Who was Lovi supposed to marry? But he probably didn't like them, right? He called them a bastard and said he didn't want to see them. But what if that was just Lovi being Lovi? Lovi wouldn't run away if he was going to be happily married, right? But what if he ran away for Feliciano's sake at the price of his own happiness? Lovi would do something like that. But it's not as though Lovi was actually married yet. It was just people saying that he would get married. But what if Lovi actually loved his betrothed? Antonio felt his stomach plummet at the thought.

"Oi! Antonio! Pay attention to my awesome!"

Antonio was yanked out of his worry maze. "Gil? When did you get here?"

Gilbert gave him a look. "We were talking and you zoned out."

"Oh, really? I'm sorry."

"What's bothering you?"

"Nothing is, Gil. I was just thinking."

"About Lovino?"

"How did you know!"

The albino rolled his eyes. "You're so obvious. You don't need to be even a hundredth as awesome as I am to be able to tell."

Antonio tilted his head to the side. "Obvious about what?"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "You don't know?"

Antonio shook his head.

"Have you noticed that you're a lot more cheerful recently?" Gilbert asked.

"I am?"

Gilbert paused for a minute, and then looked back up at Antonio. "How would you respond if I told you that my awesomeness kissed Lovino this morning?"

Antonio tensed up and glared at Gilbert. "You did _what_?" he growled. He shouldn't hurt his best friend. He really, really shouldn't horribly maim his best friend. It would make Ludwig angry, which would upset Feli, which would then make Lovi upset (and Antonio didn't want that).

Gilbert raised his hands in a defensive position. "I'm joking! The awesome me wouldn't kiss him anyways."

Antonio immediately relaxed. He smirked. "You would much rather kiss Matthew, wouldn't you?"

Gilbert blushed. "That's not the point!" He cleared his throat as his cheeks calmed down. "But how did you feel when the awesome me told you that?"

Antonio thought for half a moment. "Very angry," he stated. "And like I wanted to kill you in a very slow, very painful manner."

Gilbert paled slightly (an impressive feat, making an albino even paler). He shook his head as if to rid himself of dark thoughts. "Err, now… Why did you feel that way?"

Antonio's head tilted his head to the side again. "What do you mean?" It was simple, really. He felt that way because Gilbert said that he had kissed Lovi.

"What is a logical reason for you to react that way to the awesome me saying that?" Gilbert asked.

"Um…" What was a good reason for his responding that way? Antonio wouldn't act that way about any other crew member. It didn't really make much sense unless… unless… "Dios mio, I love Lovi…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and twirled his finger in a circle once. "Give the man a prize. He's just realized the obvious."

Antonio blushed slightly. "Was I that obvious?"

Gilbert shrugged. "It was obvious enough for someone as awesome as the awesome me."

Antonio wasn't quite sure whether to be relieved or worried by that. But then he dropped his head into his hands.

"What now?" Gilbert asked.

"I love Lovi," Antonio said and just barely lifted his head from his hands. "But Lovi's _engaged_."

"So?"

Antonio gave his best friend a look. "What do you mean by 'so'?"

"Who cares if he's already engaged?"

"But what if Lovi—"

Gilbert cut him off. "Matthew told me about it. It's a pre-arranged marriage. Apparently, Lovino hates his betrothed and the only reason he hadn't run away before was that he didn't want to leave Feli alone or take Feli away from home for his own sake."

A pre-arranged marriage? And Lovi hated his betrothed? Antonio felt a huge weight come off of his chest and a smile spread across his face. Lovi still needed to think about his own happiness more, but at least he wasn't going to marry whomever it was he was going to marry~.

"Now that we're done with that, can we finish up our attack plan?"

* * *

**A/N: And this chapter! I'm sorry it's kind of short, but I just really, really wanted to get it up. I'll make the next chapter longer!**

**Also, I am going to guess that I'll be able to update once a week (on the weekends) unless I have a light workload one week (pfffft). Every now and then I might miss a week, but they'll be rare! (And hopefully won't happen at all!)  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel how Russia would when given a lifetime supply of vodka~ (It would last a week. Maybe two if he rationed it out, da? ^J^ )  
**


	11. The Raid

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

"Lovino," Matthew walked over to her.

She looked up. "What?"

"We're getting close to the navy ship. Make sure you're ready."

"Where's Feli?" Lovina asked.

"In the crow's nest."

She nodded.

"Do you still have the knife Lars gave you?"

Lovina pulled out a knife that was almost the length of her entire forearm. "Take a guess."

Matthew eyed it warily. "Do you even know how to use one of those things?" He sure hoped that she did.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I do. You take the sharp bit and ram it into the fucker you're fighting."

Matthew dry-swallowed. "I see…" That was somehow both reassuring and unsettling at the same time.

"Besides," Lovina said, "my nonno taught me how to fight."

"Your nonno taught _you_ how to fight?" The part about her being a girl remained unsaid.

Lovina scoffed. "Yes, he taught _me_ how to fight."

"Why?"

"He wanted me to be able to defend myself. Also, I'm pretty damn sure it has something to do with me being a little more likely to start a brawl than Feli."

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "Only a little bit?"

Lovina snorted. "Fine, maybe fucking more than a little bit."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio paced around on deck. It's not that he was nervous, no, not at all. He was honestly quite confident in being able to raid Roderich's ship. But every time he knew about any fight beforehand, his adrenaline would start pumping early from anticipation and he wouldn't be able to get any rest.

"Oi, Antonio, we're almost there."

The captain snapped out of his thoughts. "We are?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Ja, we are."

Antonio picked up his axe and slung it over his shoulder. "Round everyone up, Gil."

"The awesome me is on it."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

That stupid captain bastard (with that stupid fucking smile and those damn green eyes). Demanding that she stay on the ship and not attack the fucking navy ship. It might have even been the ship of one of her bastard of a father's damn subordinates (how she would just _love_ to bet the shit out of one of them). At least this way she could better protect Feli (who had stayed up in the crow's nest).

Out of the corner of her eye Lovina spotted something move. She spun to look at it. Some sailor from the other ship was trying to sneak on board. The fucker. "Oi! Get your ass off here!" She pointed her knife at him threateningly.

He only smirked. Bastard. "And what do you think you can do to stop me?"

"I'll hack you in two," she growled.

He took a better look at her, and then grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. "I was going to steal gold, but I think I'll just take you instead. You're that woman in the wanted posters aren't you? And you're worth quite the pretty penny, too."

Lovina's eyes widened. Fuck. This was bad. _Very_ bad. She took her knife and stabbed him in the leg. "Fuck off, bastard."

This was enough to make him drop her, and she rammed into him with her shoulder. He stumbled back and she held her knife to his throat. "_If_ I let you live you will never even consider even thinking about this."

He smirked, then punched her in the gut and knocked the knife out of her hand before she could respond. He yanked her by the hair. "Nice try."

Lovina subconsciously rose up onto her toes to ease the sharp pain in her scalp while her lungs were screaming for more of the precious air that was knocked out of her. She slammed her fist down onto his elbow. Yanked his hand off of her. Shoved the bastard off of the ship.

Lovina stood there, panting, catching her breath. She walked over and picked up her knife. She wouldn't take so much time if anyone tried to sneak on board again.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio walked to his bunk. Today was a great success~. Francis' and his crews raided Roderich's ship without any problems. Now they just had to dock somewhere so they could properly sort out everything that they got. They would probably land tomorrow afternoon.

Antonio walked in. Lovi was there~. "Hello, Lovi~"

He received a grunt in response.

"Aren't you curious about how the raid went?"

"I already know, bastard," Lovi said.

Antonio noticed that Lovi grimaced the slightest bit when he sat down. "What's wrong, Lovi?"

He shot a glare at the captain. "Nothing is, bastard."

Antonio's brow furrowed. "Lovi, what happened?"

"Nothing did!"

"Lovi, answer your captain."

"Fine! Some fucker punched me in the gut. I'm fine. It's just a damn bruise."

Some fucker did _what_? Antonio wouldn't mind fishing out his battle axe again for whoever this "fucker" was. "Who?"

Lovi gave him a look. "Why the fuck do you need to know?"

"Lovi, who?"

Lovi huffed. "This bastard from the other ship. He was trying to sneak on board. I caught him. We fought. I got rid of him."

Whoever this was was lucky that he was nowhere near Antonio. But Antonio tried not to dwell on that for too long. At least Lovi was safe~. That was the whole point of making Lovi stay behind in the first place. "Well, I'm glad you're safe, Lovi." He moved to give him a light (and perfectly platonic!) hug.

But Lovi avoided it. He scoffed. "Whatever, bastard."

* * *

**A/N: Meep! I'm sorry I couldn't update until now. Last weekend I had a ton of work to do for school, was visiting my brother, and I had a feis (Irish dance competition). So my writing time seemed about as existent as Flying Mint Bunny (to anyone but Iggybrows, of course).  
**

**And I know I said that this chapter would be longer... and it isn't... but the next one actually will! I actually know what exactly is going into the next chapter, and I know it will be significantly longer than this and the last chapter.  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me as happy as Chibitalia would be when Holy Rome returns to him~  
**


	12. Unfortunate

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

"Kesesesese~ You know you're just jealous of my awesome, Francis."

The blonde rolled his eyes. "And how is that?"

"The _awesome_ me defaced Roderich's piano." Gilbert smirked.

Antonio grinned. "That's great! What did you do to it?" He always loved to be with his old friends (and Lovi was with the three of them, too~).

"I couldn't do as much as I wanted to because I was also busy kicking everyone else's un-awesome asses, but I scratched in "The awesome me was here" on it and I carved an awesome picture of a giant chick."

Lovi raised an eyebrow. "A giant chick?"

Gil nodded.

"Why the hell did you draw a giant fucking chick?"

"Because it's almost as awesome as the awesome me."

Lovi rolled his eyes. "So, you mean that it's even less awesome than you are?"

Gilbert glared at Lovi (he shouldn't do that to Lovi!). "What's that's supposed to mean?"

"Gil," Francis slid next to Lovi, "I think it means that Lovino does not think you are awesome."

Gilbert gave Lovi a look. "What! How could he not believe the awesome me is the awesome-est person ever!"

Antonio gave Francis a glare to back off of Lovi (he does know Francis, after all).

But Francis blatantly ignored it. In fact, he did worse. He wrapped his arm around Lovi's waist.

Before Lovi could react, Antonio stalked up to Francis and punched him in the face.

Francis fell down with a loud thud. After a few seconds to recover, he grinned wolfishly up at Antonio despite his newly busted lip. "Oh? So no one else is allowed to touch your little lady friend?"

Lovi kicked him in the ribs and Antonio gave him a dark look. "Don't be ridiculous, Francis. Lovi is a _boy_."

"Ohonhonhon~ I would beg to differ," Francis said as he stood back up. Blood from his lip dribbled down his chin. "You know I have enough _experience_ to be able to know the gender of the person I'm speaking to, Antonio."

Antonio stood where he was for a moment. No… it couldn't be. "Lovi, you're a boy, right?"

Lovi stared at the ground and didn't respond.

"Lovi, _right_?"

Lovi still didn't respond.

"Why?" Antonio asked.

"To protect my f-fratellino…" Lovi then turned around, hurried down the gangplank and then sprinted towards the market.

That meant that Lovi really was a girl. And that Lovi had been lying to him! (That seemed to hurt more than anything else) Antonio felt the urge to chase after Lovi and get the answers he wanted, but he couldn't. He couldn't knowingly bring a woman onto a ship! That would be terrible bad luck. He was extremely fortunate to not be at the bottom of the sea as it was.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Damn it. Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit. Why couldn't she lie to the captain bastard? It was those stupid fucking green eyes that were searching for the truth and just begging for it not to be true at the same time. She couldn't answer them. Damn it! If she had just argued, said anything, done anything at all, maybe she could have convinced the captain bastard that the perverted bastard was wrong.

But she couldn't worry about that now. What's done is done. Now she just had to make sure that Feli would be safe. That was her main concern.

Lovina's eyes widened and she ducked behind a stall. Fuck. She did not need this right now. Why was the fucking prince bastard here? There he was, in the middle of the road, his black eyes scanning the crowd. Shit, if that sailor bastard from the raid could recognize her from just a picture, than he could probably recognize her, too. Dammit.

She looked around from her hiding spot for a sign of Matthew or Feli. She spotted Ludwig, and the other two were there with him. Damn, they were in a side street that went off of another side of the road. How the hell was she supposed to get there without being seen?

Lovina ducked behind a cart that was crossing the road, and once she was pretty sure that the prince bastard wouldn't be able to see her, she went over to her famiglia (and the potato. He didn't count).

Feliciana "ve~"-ed happily. "Fratello~!"

Lovina shushed her.

"What's going on, Lovino?" Matthew asked. The worry was evident in his eyes.

"You, potato bastard," Lovina said. She had to make this quick.

Ludwig looked at her. "What?"

"Three things," Lovina held up the same number of fingers. "First, I need you to make sure you keep Feli safe."

The potato looked confused. "What do you—"

"And believe me," Lovina cut him off, "the exact moment that she isn't, I will know, and I _will_ ensure that the rest of your life is a damn living hell, bastard."

Feli's eyes teared up. "Fratello? What's going on?"

Lovina forged onward (if she stopped now, she knew she wouldn't be able to continue). "Secondly, I need you to make sure that Matthew is safe. If I find out you didn't do either or both of these things, potato, I will slowly cut off pieces of you until you are almost dead, and then light you on fire."

Matthew looked at her questioningly. "L-Lovin—"

"And, thirdly," Lovina took a deep breath, "Ludwig," how she hated to have to depend on the potato, "I need you to make sure that they do not find out Feli is a girl."

"What are you talking about, Lovino?" Ludwig asked.

"Just do it…" Lovina swallowed her pride. "Please. I don't care what you have to do. Lie, trick, whatever it is, just do it so that the captain does not find out Feli is a girl, at least until you reach the next port, got it?"

The potato nodded. "But why..?"

Lovina smiled sadly at Feli. "Take care, Feli. Be careful. Don't eat only pasta every day. Beat up the potato for me a couple of times."

"Wh-what's going on? …S-sorella?" Feli started to cry.

Lovina gave Feli one quick hug, and then another to Matthew, before walking out of the side street. The prince bastard had already gone by. Lovina caught up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Oi, bastard."

He turned around and smirked at Lovina. "Oh, what a shame. I had hoped my hunting would get to go on for at least a little while longer."

Lovina glared at him. "Shut up, bastard. I came here to make a deal."

The bastard raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What is it that you want out of this deal?"

"For you and everyone else to stop searching for Feliciana. No wanted posters, no search parties, nothing."

The prince bastard crossed his arms and looked at her questioningly. "That's quite a lot to ask for, Lovina. What do I get in return?"

Lovina took a deep, shaky breath. "I'll return with you. To the city. I won't fight you or try to escape. I'll upkeep any damn story you say about my running away, cover up or no."

The bastard rested his chin on his hand. "So, you're agreeing to marry me?"

Lovina nodded slowly, almost reluctantly.

"And you'll behave as the perfect court lady?"

Lovina nodded slowly again, this time to hold back her anger. "If I have to," she said through gritted teeth. The bastard knew that was what she was worst at.

The prince bastard smirked again. "You will. But what happens if I go back on my side of the deal?"

"Then I'll rip out your piece of shit guts with my bare hands and shove them into your fucking mouth," Lovina growled.

The bastard laughed (and it was heartless, Lovina thought, unlike the capt—Feli's! Unlike Feli's cheerful, vibrant laugh). "That sounds more like you. I must admit I was rather surprised at your surrender, but I suppose you do give up every little thing for your precious, little sorellina." He lifted up Lovina's chin with a finger. "Don't you?"

Lovina glared at him murderously. "Do you agree or not?"

The bastard let her go. "I agree to your deal. Besides, finding you was my primary goal, after you left me alone at the altar, _dear_." Venom soaked through the endearment. "But if you go back on your side of the deal, efforts to search for your sister will quadruple."

Lovina nodded in agreement. "I won't." Doing this was the only way she could keep Feli safe. She couldn't go back to the ship, because the crazy, superstitious bastard would probably kill her if she tried. And even if he didn't, with her around, suspicions about Feli's gender would rise. And then Feli would be in trouble. If she tried to take Feli with her to wherever she tried to run, the prince bastard would chase after and eventually catch both of them. This really was the only way.

The prince bastard leered smugly at her. "Good."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio paced on deck (not that he realized he was). Where was Lovi? Would he even let Lovi back on board? Probably not, but he wanted to at least be able to talk with hi—_her_. Lovi was a girl. And, Lovi lied to him. Antonio felt another stab of pain at that thought. He had to admit, though, it did explain a lot of Lovi's strange behavior... But did that mean Feli was also a girl? If Lovi _and_ Feli didn't return, it would be safe to assume so. But did he hope that Lovi would return? Should he? Will Lovi still come back? Maybe it would be for the best if he—_she_ didn't…

Antonio heard people walking back up the gangplank and he spun around. Was it Lovi?

No. It was Ludwig, Matthew, and Feli.

But Feli was clinging to Ludwig and crying hysterically.

That was never a good sign.

"Wh-what happened?" Antonio asked. Why did they return early? Why was Feli crying? Where was Lovi?

Matthew looked up, startled, but then he ignored the captain and tried to continue consoling Feli. Ludwig awkwardly patted Feli on the back. None of it helped though.

"What's wrong?" Antonio asked. Something had to be. Lovi wouldn't leave her brother (sister?) alone and crying.

Feli's head snapped up and he (she? For the sake of his thought process, Antonio decided on "he") glared at the captain through his tears. "Wh-what's wrong? _What's wrong?!_ Son of a—!" But Feli broke down into sobs before he could finish his insult.

Antonio stood back, shocked. Dread knotted itself in his stomach. Something horrible must have happened to Lovi. What if it was his fault? No, how could it be? But maybe it still was. "Please, tell me what happened." He had to know.

Feli glared at him witheringly. He muttered something.

"What?" Antonio asked.

"I s-said…" Feli started. He looked at the ground, and then tearfully glared at Antonio. "What the hell did you do to sorella!? You… y-you… you bastard!" Ludwig held Feli back securely.

Antonio froze where he stood. No. He didn't do anything to hurt Lovi! He wouldn't. Couldn't! But what if what did happen was his fault? "P-please… Just tell me what happened to Lovi."

Matthew looked at the captain again (Was it just Antonio, or did he receive a dirty look? Hopefully not). "I don't know exactly what happened, but from what I saw, Lovina talked to some man. She didn't seem to like him, but she still left with him…"

Lovi just left with some man?! Lovi wouldn't leave with a total stranger, right? Right? "Who?"

"I-I don't know," Matthew claimed.

"Th-the prince…" Feli mumbled. All of his rage seemed to have passed.

Matthew looked shocked. But Ludwig seemed just about as confused as Antonio felt.

"The prince?" Antonio asked. "How does Lovi know the prince?"

Matthew stared at the ground. "She is the prince's fiancée…"

What? No… Lovi left to her fiancé? No. Didn't she hate him? A lump formed in Antonio's throat. This was horrible. Beyond horrible. H-his Lovi was gone. His Lovi would be unhappy. He had to save his Lovi. But what if his Lovi didn't want to be saved?

* * *

**A/N: So... this chapter is a tad intense... I hope you all liked it.**

**Also, asking for your opinion here: do you want a more specific physical description of the prince? Or would you rather imagine what he looks like on your own? If I do one, it would be during the next chapter. I'll probably decide based on what most people ask for. And, he will get named... I promise. I just couldn't decide on one this chapter, but I will have by the next one!  
**

**And, for those of you who are curious, I am in an extremely good mood~ The grandmaster at my dojo told me this morning that I am ready to test for my full black belt as opposed to staying as a bo-black (the difference at my dojo is that bo-black is a junior black belt, and the full black belt is the senior black belt).  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed! It makes me feel like Canada when people remember who he is~  
**


	13. Returning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia**

* * *

Lovina glared directly across from her. Not that anything was there other than the opposite wall of the carriage.

The fucking prince bastard, Sadiq, sat down across from her. He smirked. "Why so upset, my dear?"

She scowled at him. "You, bastard."

His smirk grew even wider. "Now, now, Lovina. We are almost back to the capital. Don't you think you should start getting into character?"

Lovina glared at him. "Not fucking necessary."

"So you are already in love with me and an affectionate, refined noblewoman? I was not aware. Thank you for telling me."

She glowered. "Fuck you…"

He leaned back and closed his eyes with a dark chuckle. "Whatever you say, my dear." It was drowning is sarcasm.

Lovina glared at him again. The stupid, smug bastard. He was damn lucky that she couldn't kill him. Well, she _could_, but it would be no fucking use. If she killed Sadiq then she would just have to marry the younger prince bastard (that is what the original arrangement dictated, after all). Maybe she would still kill him just to spite him. That would be fun.

She watched him more carefully. Sadly, she didn't have anything to stab the bastard with. Oh well. His neck was too broad for her to choke him effectively with her bare hands. At least from in the front. Damn. Hmm, maybe she could slam his head into the wall? No… the coachman would get suspicious and investigate.

Damn it. Lovina leaned into her chair and crossed her arms. How she fucking hated Sadiq… no, "hate" was a strong word. She needed an even stronger one. Maybe "despise," or "loathe." "Despise" sounded good.

And Lovina really didn't want to return to the capital. It was a failure on her part—no. She couldn't think that way. This was for Feli. So long as doing this was good for Feli, it was a success.

She looked at the prince bastard again. Her mind couldn't help but wander to images of curly hair, a bright smile, and dazzling green eyes. She felt a pang of—well, she didn't really know what the hell it was. Some form of regret? Could she even miss the bastard? No! Of fucking course not! She felt absolutely nothing of the sort for that captain bastard. How could she be so ridiculous to even start to wonder if she felt that way? It was ridiculous. This damn long carriage ride must be getting to her. Messing with her mind.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Giulio Romulus Vargas was not a very demanding person (other than from his troops back in his military days, but that was a completely different matter). He did not want much more than the basic necessities and for his nipotini to be happy and healthy. So, when one day (actually, the morning of his elder nipotina's wedding, which he had not exactly been looking forward to), he woke up to find that both of them were gone without a trace he was… worried… concerned… terrified. What had happened to them? Did they run away? Why didn't they tell him? Did someone take them?

With each passing day the second option seemed more and more likely to Giulio. And of course his son was of absolutely no use in the entire ordeal. Sure, he was angry about his loss of his springboard to more power, but, if anything, that only made Giulio even angrier with his son. Giulio knew perfectly well that his son didn't care for his own children, so any attempts to pretend that he did made Giulio's blood boil.

One day Giulio was walking down the hallway when he saw a certain hair curl he was certain he would never see again. "Lovina!" He ran over to his nipotina and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Nonno?"

"Si, si, it's me. Are you alright? Where's Feli? What happened to you?" Giulio couldn't help the over-whelming joy bubbling in his chest. Yes, he may not know where both of his nipotini are, but at least he knew without a doubt that one of them was safe. Giulio planted a light kiss on her forehead. "I've been so worried."

"I-I'm fine, nonno. And I missed you, too."

Giulio smiled so widely that he thought his face might split in two. He finally let go of his nipotina and took a good look at her. It was definitely his Lovina, but she seemed different. Her hair was shorter for one (almost like a boy's!), she was wearing man's clothes, and she seemed a little worse for wear (but in a good way; she had more muscle on her and she had a tougher air about her). But she was safe and healthy, and that alone made Giulio so incredibly happy. "But what's happened to you, mia nipotina? Where did you and Feli go?"

Lovina looked down to the floor. "We ran."

Giulio was slightly relieved at that. But only slightly. All that meant was they weren't kidnapped. "But if you're here, what has happened to Feli?"

His nipotina looked up at him again. "Can we talk somewhere else?"

Giulio nodded and led her to his study. He sat her down in his chair and looked at her imploringly.

Lovina wringed her hands for a few moments. "Ah, well, Feli and I ran, the morning of my wedding. And we disguised ourselves as boys."

Giulio chuckled a bit. "I could have guessed that just from looking at you and from what I knew before."

Lovina gave him a look (nowhere near half as forceful as the one's he's seen her give other people) and continued. "And we ended up joining the crew of a ship, to better get away, you see."

Giulio nodded. That was logical enough, and it did explain the rest of her transformation. "But what sort of ship was it? Most definitely not a navy ship. You would have been caught too quickly. So, was it a merchant ship? Most merchants are greedy pigs, Lovina. At least I know you would never join a pirate crew." He had raised her to know better.

Lovina looked at the ground and started wringing her hands again.

Giulio narrowed his eyes at her. "Lovina… Did you and Feli join a pirate crew?"

Lovina gave a small nod.

"Who was the captain?"

Lovina mumbled something.

Giulio softened his gaze (which he then realized had been starting to turn into a glare). "Who, Lovina?"

"…Captain Antonio."

Giulio bit his lip. He could not yell at Lovina. He had only just gotten her back. But how could she join a notorious pirate crew? He _knew_ that she knew better. But then a thought dawned on him. "Where is Feli, Lovina?"

She looked up at him. "Still onboard."

"What?! You left her alone on _Captain Antonio_'s ship? Why, Lovina? You know better!"

Lovina stood up. "I didn't leave her alone! There are two people there that I'm trusting her with! And it's not as though I had a fucking choice, nonno! It was the only damn way!"

"The only way to do what?"

"To keep her happy!" Lovina caught her breath for a couple of seconds. She looked down again. "I'm sorry, nonno."

Giulio pulled her into a hug. "It's alright, Lovina. But how do you know she will be? How do you know she will be safe?"

Lovina sat down again. "Early on, we were found out by our bunkmate, Matthew. He promised to keep quiet about it, though, but I'm not sure whether or not that was because he is a good person or because I threatened him. At first, at least. And then Feli decided that he was our fratello adottivo because we were so close to him and apparently I'm protective of him. He's one of the people I left her with. The other is the potato bastar—I mean, Ludwig. I don't like him."

Giulio raised an eyebrow. Lovina wouldn't trust someone she didn't like with Feli.

His nipotina continued on, "But, _apparently_, he and Feli are in love." She rolled her eyes at this. "But, he does care about her enough, I suppose, and he's reasonably competent. I threatened him with living hell until I murder him if he didn't take good enough care of Feli and Matthew."

Giulio sat down and leaned back into his own chair. "Very well then. But what about the captain?"

Lovina looked at him. "What about the bastard?"

"Tell me about him. Did he hurt you or Feli in any way?"

She shook her head. "No, but the bastard has no concept of personal space. He even forced me to fucking share a bed with him when Feli was sick!"

Giulio narrowed his eyes and nodded. Despite his relatively calm exterior, inside of his head he was deciding on the best way to kill Captain Antonio should they ever cross paths. Ripping off his head with his bare hands seemed particularly appealing at the moment.

* * *

**A/N: And I finally got a chance to update!  
**

**I'm sorry I took so long, but I've kind of been overwhelmed with school and preparing for black belt testing and feiseanna (all of the feisanna! O.O).  
**

**But Nonno Rome finally makes his appearance! What do you all think of him?  
**

**And yes, the prince is Sadiq. I was already thinking about doing it that way, and most of you wanted him to be the prince, and so that is exactly what I did.  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me as happy and Nonno Rome when he gets one of his nipotini back~  
**


	14. Finding his Lovi

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Antonio made his way through the busy streets of the capital. What was it that Feli had told him? Something about an old lady with a stall in the market. This would have been so much easier if he had come along. Feli wanted to, but he said that he couldn't and Ludwig wouldn't let him go anyway.

Antonio looked around again. Where was that stand? He was already in the market. He really hoped this would help him to get his Lovi. Feli might not have been the most reliable source of information. He thought about his Lovi again. How was she faring?

"Excuse me, sir?"

Antonio spun around to look at the source of the voice. There was the old lady he was supposed to be looking for! She matched Feli's description, at least. "Yes?"

"Would you care to have a tomato? You look like you need one," the old lady said.

Antonio walked over. "How much will it cost?" In his hurry to go after his Lovi, he didn't think to bring any money with him. He only had a few spare coins in his pocket.

"A conversation," she said. At Antonio's raised eyebrow, she continued, "Almost no one stops and just talks with an old woman like me." She beckoned him over to her chair.

"I couldn't possibly take your sea—"

The old woman cut him off. "Please do. I have some work to do anyway."

So, Antonio sat down in the chair that seemed almost as old as the woman.

"My name is Adelina, who are you?"

"Antonio…"

"So, Antonio, what has you looking like such a wreck?" Adelina picked up a broom and began sweeping the ground in front of her stall.

"Why are you sweeping the dirt, ma'am?" Antonio asked.

"Adelina, please," she corrected. "And a clean business attracts more customers, unless it's a bar, then they don't care. But this most definitely is not a bar. I don't care to watch after a lot of drunks, anyhow."

If this was the woman that young Feli and Lovi were around all of the time, Antonio could take a guess that this was where Feli learned to talk so incessantly.

"But I answered your question, Antonio. Now you have to answer mine," Adelina said.

"I'm looking for someone," Antonio said. That wasn't a lie (why did he care about lying to this old woman?).

"This person must be very important to you. You look like nothing more than a bundle of nerves," Adelina gave him a deep, penetrating look. (That's why. This Adelina was very sharp).

Antonio only nodded.

"So, tell me about them."

"Ah, well, I'm in love with her…"

Adelina nodded. "I see. And?"

"I'm afraid that she might hate me… or at least never love me." How did Adelina make Antonio say that? He couldn't even admit it to himself before.

Adelina nodded in an understanding manner. She put her broom back away and went over to a small stack of crates. She picked up the top one and set it down on the ground, almost dropping it.

Antonio stood up to help her. "Be careful—"

Adelina waved him off. "It's fine. I've been doing this for longer than you've been alive… I do wish that those two were still here, though."

"Who?" Antonio asked. Was she talking about Feli and Lovi?

"These two boys who would help me around, carrying all of the heavy things and such. I found out they were actually girls within the first day or so, but I helped them to make their act better."

Antonio resisted the urge to feel utterly idiotic. Adelina had found out Feli and Lovi within a day, but he didn't even notice until someone mentioned it. Wait, so Feli was female, too? And she was on his ship!

"But they stopped coming a while ago. I suspect they probably ran off somewhere or another," Adelina said. She shook her hand in a dismissive gesture. "But the past is past. Tell me more about this girl you're after."

Antonio sighed. "She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. But she's very strong, but she never takes care of herself because she's always taking care of her younger sister…"

Adelina nodded and handed Antonio a tomato from the second crate. "You sound like you've fallen for her hard."

Antonio accepted to tomato with a quiet thanks. "I miss my Lovi."

Adelina stopped her bustling around the stall. "What did you say her name was?"

"Lovina…" Antonio didn't like the look Adelina was giving him.

"What makes you think that you'll find her here in the market?"

"Her sister told me that this would be the best place to start looking." For a way to get into the palace.

Adelina shook her head. "No wonder you have those fears. She's not too keen on trusting other people."

Antonio's heart sunk a bit. But wait, no, that was just a part of his Lovi, and if he could overcome that, it would make his Lovi all the more precious to him!

Adelina looked at him. "But why did she come back in the first place? I expected her to be long gone by now."

Antonio looked down. "I found out that she was a girl, and so I guess she decided that to protect her younger sister, she had to leave. And then she returned here with the prince, who had been looking for her."

"Why did your discovery that she was a girl make any difference? You didn't do anything to her, did you?" Adelina gave him a suspicious once-over.

"No! Of course not! I'm the captain of a ship… and generally we're very superstitious." Antonio knew he was. But all of them were true! He's seen them first hand! Or at least heard from other people who've seen them first hand.

Adelina gave him a look. "How do you plan on getting inside the palace?"

Antonio drew in a breath. "Feli told me that you would be able to help me…"

Adelina laughed. "Just like Feli! Always assuming that everyone wants to help."

Antonio looked at her. "But will you help me?"

Adelina thought for a moment. "Why not? I haven't been involved in a conspiracy in a long time."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Francis walked around Antonio's ship. Where was Gilbert? He had something very important to discuss with him. Ah, there he was! "Gilbert!" The albino turned around. "A word?"

Gilbert walked over. "Ja? What do you want that needs my awesome?"

Francis smiled at his old friend. "So I've heard that you've taken a liking to my cousin Mathieu?

Gilbert started. "He's your cousin?"

Francis raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem with that?"

Gilbert shrugged. "He just seems too awesome to be related to you."

Francis looked at him. "So you _do_ like him?"

Gilbert blushed. "I-I never said that!"

Francis smirked. "Don't worry, Gil, I'm fully supporting of your amour—So long as you don't hurt Mathieu, of course. I am just warning you to watch out for Mathieu's other cousin, or his brother. Neither of them would much approve."

Gilbert crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? Who are the un-awesome suckers?"

Francis rolled his eyes at his friend's cockiness. "Captain Arthur Kirkland and Captain Alfred Jones."

"…Scheiße."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio crept down the secret tunnel that Adelina had shown him. How did she even know it existed? She said that Feli and Lovi had shown her once. She also said to be quiet, because there were vents into many of the rooms that it went by, and that people could hear anything inside the tunnel.

He looked around, and raised his candle even higher. He sure hoped he could find his Lovi soon.

"But Lady Lovina…" he heard echo through the tunnel. Antonio hurried to the vent he thought it originated from and he peered through. It was some sort of sitting room. There was a woman with long brown hair and green eyes. She was the one speaking. And then there were two males. They looked like they were brothers. The older one looked exasperated and the younger didn't seem to have much expression at all and was wearing a red hat. And then, at the opposite end of the room was… his Lovi. It was definitely his Lovi (he recognized her curl and adorable scowl~), but she was in a dress. And she looked absolutely _breathtaking_. Once Antonio had recovered, he started listening to the conversation.

"No," she said.

"But Lovina, you have to smile. Everyone has to think that you're happy to have returned."

"Did I smile when I was happy before, Lizzie?"

She shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. But how is everyone else supposed to know whether you're happy or not? Non-verbal cues, Lovina!"

Lovi rolled her eyes. "My return isn't even being announced until tomorrow."

"Yes," the older of the two men said, "But you need to have good practice, yes?"

Lovi gave him a look.

"Think about it this way," he said. "The sooner you are convincingly the happy bride-to-be, my dear, the sooner that the search for Feliciana will completely terminate."

Lovi gave him one of the darkest glares that Antonio had ever seen. But then after a moment or two she smiled sweetly. Antonio felt something strange in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to be the one to make Lovi smile, and not because he was forcing her to.

The man smiled and placed a soft kiss on Lovi's hand. He smirked up at her. "Lovely."

The woman named Lizzie sighed. "Well then, I suppose that's all of what's left to do today."

Lovi curtsied (curtsied!) to the man (whom Antonio didn't like at all) and left the room. Antonio tried to follow after his Lovi, but the tunnel was making things difficult. He finally found an exit (which was behind a tapestry of some sort) and exited into the hallway. He looked around. There was his Lovi! He hurried after her and pulled her into a hug. "Oh, how I've missed you, Lovi."

Lovi's face flared red and she turned her head to look at him. "Bastard?! What the fucking hell are you doing here?"

Antonio looked at her very seriously. "I'm here to save you, Lovi."

She shoved him away. "Bastard, what if I don't want to be saved?"

Antonio's heart plummeted towards an icy, broken doom. "But why not, Lovi?"

"What do you mean, bastard?"

"Are you happy here, Lovi?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What does that fucking matter?"

"It matters a lot!"

"No, it doesn't!" Lovi swung a fist at him.

But Antonio caught it. "Yes, it does, Lovi."

Lovi tried to pull her hand away. "Even if it did, bastard, why the hell does it fucking matter to you?" she hissed.

"Because I love you, Lovi."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Liar."

Antonio shook his head. "It's not a lie, Lovi. I really, really do."

She glared at him.

"Oh, Lovi," he looked at her hand in his. It was the one that that man (the prince?) had kissed. Antonio held her hand up to his lips. "Why did you let him kiss you?" He then planted three quick kisses over where the prince had kissed his Lovi's hand.

Antonio looked up at her, and he saw Lovi's eyes widen slightly. His heart started to flutter with some hope. Was she starting to believe him?

He suddenly felt something very cold and very sharp pressed against his neck. A threatening voice behind him hissed. "Who are you, what are you doing to mia nipotina, and, most importantly, why haven't I killed you yet?"

* * *

**A/N: Oh, Antonio, forethought is not your strong-suit...  
**

**But I updated again, yay! (Oh, hello there, pile of homework... No, I'm not ignoring you... Of course not...)  
**

**Also, is it just me, or do all old ladies have the uncanny ability to make you tell the truth no matter how badly you don't want to? I think they do, and that is where Adelina got that power.  
**

**But, the younger prince is indeed TRNC, and Iggybrows will be making an appearance! (At the possible expense of Gilbert's awesome well-being, of course)  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me as happy as Japan is when he finds new otaku/yaoi fan-buddies ^-^  
**


	15. Unhappy Spaniard, Nervous Prussian

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Antonio froze up. Why was this knife pressed against his throat? "Who are you?" Who would dare stand between him and his Lovi? He hoped it was the prince, because then Antonio would be able to beat him senseless. And if he resisted, well…

"I am Giulio Romulus Vargas, the man who is going to kill you for harming mia nipotina." The voice behind him glowered.

"Nonno…"

"Lovina," Giulio interrupted her. "Is this Captain Antonio?"

Lovi nodded.

Giulio chuckled darkly and pressed the knife even harder against Antonio's neck so that it started to draw little beads of blood. "I'm going to have so much fun killing you, bastard."

Antonio looked at Lovi. He wanted to at least be able to see her at least once more before whatever it was this crazy man was going to do to him.

"Nonno, you can't kill him," Lovi said.

Antonio's heart soared (His Lovi was going to save him and generally wanted him to be alive~).

"Why not?" Giulio whined (How can a man that intimidating even whine like that?).

"Because," Lovi said, "I want to be the one to kill him."

Antonio's heart sunk at that.

"Very well," Giulio said as he released Antonio.

Antonio stepped away from Giulio and turned to look at the man so intent on taking his life. He wasn't exactly what Antonio was expecting… He was expecting rather… well, Antonio wasn't quite sure what he was expecting, but this was Lovi's nonno? (Well, for one thing, he looked too young).

Lovi leaned closer to him and hissed. "This is your only chance, bastard. Leave now or I will let mio nonno kill you in any way that he wants."

What was Antonio to do? His Lovi wanted him gone, but he certainly didn't want to be.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Matthew had just finished taking stock of the inventory and started to head back up towards the deck. And he was greeted by a very familiar sight—his two cousins fighting.

"You bloody well _will_ let me see Matthew, frog," Arthur said.

"Ohonhonhon~ I think not. What if I don't want you to see Mathieu?"

"There you go with spoiling his perfectly good name again! And that will only make me more suspicious. Frog," he added on as an afterthought.

"But, sourcils, what if he doesn't want to see you?" Francis countered.

"Hello?" Matthew said.

Arthur snorted. "As if that could be the case." (Of course they didn't hear him).

Gilbert came over and smirked. "Kesesesese~ how would you know?"

"You," Arthur glared at the albino, "stay the bloody hell out of this."

"Hello?!" Matthew said slightly louder this time.

Arthur started and turned to see Matthew. After a moment, his green eyes flashed with recognition. "There you are, Matthew! I was starting to get worried that one of the three imbeciles had done something to you."

Matthew tilted his head to the side. "Three imbeciles?"

Arthur nodded. "Yes, three. The frog, this idiot," he cast a sideways glare at Gilbert, "and—hold on. Where is your bloody idiot of a captain, Matthew?"

"Not here…" Matthew said.

Arthur looked around disbelievingly before eventually nodding.

Gilbert walked over to Matthew and wrapped an arm over his shoulders (which did _not_ make him blush!). "Ja, well, you've seen him now, so now you can take your un-awesome ass off of our ship, right? Right." The albino started to turn to take Matthew back down below.

Arthur suddenly drew his sword and pressed the tip against Gilbert's throat. "I'll leave when I so desire. And I should be allowed to speak with my cousin."

Gilbert's chest puffed his chest out slightly. "And what if Mattie doesn't want to talk to you?" (How could Gilbert stay so brave with a sword pointed at his throat?)

Arthur smirked lazily. "Then he'll tell me so. Right, Matthew?"

Matthew nodded. "But please stop pointing your sword at Gilbert, Arthur."

Arthur sheathed his weapon and looked at Matthew. "So, let's talk."

Matthew nodded. It would be nice to catch up with his cousin without having to fear for the life of Gilbert (b-but only as a friend! Of course…).

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Sadiq sat back in his chair and sighed. Why was Lovina being so difficult? They each had their fathers' duties to fulfill, so why couldn't they simply do this as quickly and as easily as possible? He already knew that they didn't love each other—not now, at least. He's known people in arranged marriages who've come to love each other, and there was when he was younger as well…

Sadiq was nine, and Lovina was only five. Father, King Serhan, had just told Sadiq that he was going to marry Sir Vargas's elder daughter, Lovina. So, to better complete his task (he was always trying to please Father, after all), he decided that he would fall in love and court her. And to do that, Sadiq had to meet her.

He had found the two Vargas girls playing and dancing and laughing outside in a garden. But they immediately stopped when they saw Sadiq. It was strange, at the time, to have people to actually look at _him_, instead of seeing him and immediately thinking of his title as the crown prince, and then of course gushing to Father about how strong he looked, and about how smart he was—whether they had meant it or not.

He felt nervous about this alien feeling. What was that thing he had seen the older boys do to the ladies they were courting? Flowers, they would give them flowers. Sadiq immediately bent over, picked a daisy, and held it out for Lovina to take.

She only looked at him strangely. Was he doing something wrong? Feliciana urged her sister to take the flower and say "grazie," but Lovina frowned.

Oh no, Sadiq was sure then that he was doing something wrong. What did he do that she didn't like? Was she one of those people who sneezed and scratched around flowers? Maybe she just didn't like him?

Sadiq suddenly shook his head to break himself out of his reverie. Memories weren't going to do anything. All that he had to do now was to make sure that he and Lovina wed, and then he could sort out all of their past differences after.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Gilbert paced outside of the door to his and Mattie's bunk. Not that he was nervous. He was too awesome to be nervous. But what on earth could Mattie and the un-awesome eyebrows talk about for so long? Eyebrows can't be that interesting!

Gilbert pressed his ear against the door. Dammit, why did Antonio have to be so un-awesome as to get un-awesomely thick doors? A thought occurred to him and Gilbert stopped. What if Arthur told Mattie about his captain days?

Of course, he had been completely awesome back then (and he still was), but Arthur would probably put anything he did in the worst possible light, just because Gilbert was friends with Antonio (not to mention the times he himself would attack Arthur's ship…). But Mattie wouldn't think badly of him because of that, right? Gilbert hoped not.

Gilbert suddenly stopped his pacing and spun around to face the door when he heard it open. Arthur stepped out and gave him a look. "Talk with me, Beilschmidt."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"I want to know what your intentions are about Matthew," he said (un-awesomely).

"What if I don't have any yet?"

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Then you will want to decide quickly, Beilschmidt."

* * *

**A/N: Hooray for new chapters!**

**Sorry, Antonio, I don't know when (or maybe even if) Nonno Rome will ever _not_ be after your life. It's too ingrained in him to protect his nipotini... ^-^;  
**

**And the PruCan is starting to sort itself out (very slowly, but surely). Also, asking for the general opinion here: should Captain Alfred F. Jones make an appearance, or no? I've been having trouble deciding that, so any input is welcome! Ooh, and because I've already started asking questions, what did you all think of Sadiq's point of view? Interesting, no?  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel as happy as Prussia when Canada calls him 'Awesome'~ (without any prompting!)  
**


	16. Sorella-withdrawal

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Adelina smacked Antonio in the back of the head. "Idiot."

Antonio only gave her a look despite the slight sting in his head (Adelina was being nice enough to let him stay in her small home for the time being).

"You don't just waltz into the visible parts of the palace! You did enter through a secret tunnel for a _reason_. And, furthermore, now they know you're here and will be ready to kill you next time! Do you _want_ to die?—"

"Yes, yes, I get it!" Antonio slouched over after his outburst. "I-I just saw my Lovi, and then I just had to speak with her…"

Adelina rolled her eyes. "Fine, you just _had_ to. But what are you going to do now?"

Antonio's head tilted to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she started, "how on earth do you plan to get Lovina? Let alone even see her? You just made your job a lot harder."

Antonio furrowed his eyebrows. How was he going to be able to get to his Lovi now?

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Ludwig was at a loss as to what he should do. He knew he had to make sure that Gilbert wasn't murdered by Arthur when he wasn't watching, but he couldn't leave Feliciana alone either.

She had been acting very strangely ever since Lovina had left (well, strangely compared to her usual behavior. Both were rather strange on their own). She was all forced smiles and she would always try to force herself to do more work than she had to. It was all _forced_. As if she would break down the very moment she stopped doing something or another.

Feliciana was currently flurrying around their bunk, adjusting and readjusting every little thing (she had already done every single thing she was able to do in the last several days since Lovina had left).

"Feliciano," Ludwig said (he used her masculine because he did promise he would keep her identity safe, after all. He even threatened Francis into silence). "Take a break."

"Ve, it's okay, Ludwig. I'm not tired."

"That wasn't a question. Take a break."

"Vee, but, Ludwig…" she whined as she continued _still_ with her unnecessary activity.

Ludwig narrowed his eyes. "Feliciano…" he warned.

She still wouldn't stop.

Ludwig sighed and walked over to Feliciana. He hooked his hands under her shoulders, picked her up, and carried her over to the bed where he sat her down. "Rest."

Feliciana shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Ve, I don't need to rest right now, and besides, there's probably something I need to do right now, veee."

"There's nothing left for you to do but rest," Ludwig said. "Everything else you could do you've already done, Feliciano."

She breathed a dissatisfied "veh" and stayed still for a few moments.

A very short precious few moments.

She looked up at Ludwig. "Is there any of your work that I can do?"

Ludwig narrowed his eyes at her. "No. All I want you to do is rest."

Feliciana pouted.

Ludwig steeled himself. He wouldn't give in. He won't!

But, Feliciana looked so upset… Maybe it wouldn't hurt to let her do a small something? —No! She's been overworking herself and needs to rest… But not even just a little nothing? No! Ludwig had to be strong about this! Feliciana had to rest.

"Rest, Feliciano. I need to check that Gilbert hasn't gotten himself killed yet." Ludwig hurried out of the room and away from the power of Feliciana's pout.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Sadiq walked into Father's private room and knelt down in respect. "You wanted to see me, Father?"

Father was sitting down at the opposite end of the room. He nodded. "Yes. Rise and close the door."

Sadiq did as he was told.

"I take it that Lady Lovina has returned?" Father asked.

"Yes, Father. She returned with me to the palace."

"Where was she when you found her?"

"One of the port cities, Father."

"Why was she there?"

"I do not know, Father."

"Who was she with?"

"Presumably Lady Feliciana."

"Why is Feliciana not here as well?"

"Lovina agreed to come if Feliciana did not."

"Where is Lovina now?"

"I do not know, Father. I would guess that she is in her rooms."

"Are you aware of the incident from earlier today?"

Sadiq's brow furrowed. "There was an incident?"

"That is what I said, isn't it? Do I have to repeat myself?"

Sadiq cringed inwardly. He should have known not to question Father. "…What happened?"

"A suspicious character approached Lovina within palace walls."

Sadiq's eyes widened slightly. "Is she alright?"

Father nodded. "Sir Vargas stopped him before he could do anything to her, but he managed to slip away."

Sadiq would have to remain on the lookout. He couldn't allow anything bad to happen to Lovina.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Ludwig sighed. Why was it so hard to convince Arthur not to murder Gilbert? Or to make Gilbert stop annoying Arthur enough to give the blonde captain another excuse to kill him? It was rather difficult, but in the end the two agreed to both stay away from Matthew and each other until evening. That should prevent any new corpses for the time being.

Ludwig worked his way back towards his and Feliciana's bunk. Hopefully she had taken this time to rest. He opened the door and looked inside.

Feliciana had curled up her legs against her chest and her shoulders were shaking.

Ludwig closed the door behind him and approached the bed. "Feliciano?"

She peered over her knees with red, puffy eyes. She sniffled. "Vee?"  
Ludwig stood where he was. "Were you crying?"

She wiped her eyes on the back of her wrist. "No."

"Why were you crying?" Ludwig asked. He felt bad. Had he somehow caused it?

Feliciana shook her head. "I wasn't c-crying, ve…"

Ludwig was at a loss. He had no idea what to do with a crying person, let alone a crying Feliciana. "Then what were you doing?"

"N-nothing, vee…"

Ludwig gave her a look. "What has you so upset, Feliciano?" Maybe then he would be able to fix it, somehow (he really wanted to fix it).

"I-I'm fine, ve. Y-you don't need to w-worry…"

That only made Ludwig worry more. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to Feliciana. Think. Think! What was something comforting he could do? He patted her on the back with one hand. "It's about Lovina, isn't it." It wasn't even a question.

She nodded with a quiet hiccup and fresh batch of tears. She suddenly latched herself around Ludwig's torso. "Veee! I miss Sorella so much, Ludwig!"

Ludwig was even more lost with a Feliciana that was crying into his chest. He patted her on the back again carefully. "It's alright…"

Feliciana's grip around him tightened. "No, it's not! Veee, Sorella is gone and she'll be unhappy forever. I-it's horrible, vee!"

Ludwig continued to pat her on the back (it seemed to be working. She was shaking less). "Shh, shh, it's alright. Captain Antonio went to rescue her, so Lovina will come back soon."

"B-but Nonno will probably kill him, vee," Feliciana sniffed.

"Your nonno?" Ludwig asked.

Feli nodded. "He used to be the leader of the entire military, vee. And he doesn't like it when he thinks someone is bothering me or Sorella, especially Sorella because Sorella's always protecting me, vee."

Ludwig hoped Antonio had a good plan to get past Feliciana and Lovina's nonno unnoticed. He looked down at Feliciana. "But it's still alright, Feliciano. Captain Antonio is very smart and will be very careful."

"What the fuck do you know, bastard?"

Ludwig quickly looked around. Had Lovina already returned? He looked at Feliciana, who was glaring at him (even after seeing it every morning, it was still very disconcerting).

She blinked suddenly. "Vee, Ludwig, are you okay?"

Ludwig nodded. "Ja, I'm fine, Feliciano."

She glared at him again. "Why the hell would I care, you damn potato shithead?

Ludwig pressed the back of his hand against Feliciana's forehead. Was she coming down with some sort of fever?

Her glare disappeared again and she nestled into Ludwig's side. "Vee, thank you, Ludwig, for being so nice and helpful, ve."

If it was possible, Ludwig was even more confused.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Lovina had some trouble falling asleep. Not that she missed being with the captain bastard! That was fucking impossible! She was simply used to the rocking of the ship always being there, so it was strange for it to suddenly be gone. That had to be it.

Lovina blinked her eyes open a few moments after she woke up. It was _cold_. She pouted slightly. "I want a hug…"

She was more than surprised when she actually got said hug. "C-captain?" After Lovina recovered her senses, she shot herself away from him. "What the fuck did you think you were doing, bastard!" She was more than glad that she actually wore her nightgown to bed last night.

The bastard shrugged. "Hugging you."

"W-why?!" Lovina spluttered.

He looked at her with his atrocious, beautiful green eyes. "You said that you wanted one."

Her face flared. "Bastard! How did you get in here?"

"The window."

Lovina had to do something about this! "Follow me and die," she warned as she threw on a robe over her nightgown. She closed the door to her room behind her and hurried over to Nonno's room, all the way on the opposite end of the wing. She knocked.

"Enter!" Nonno called from the other side.

Lovina walked in.

"What is it, Lovina?" His brow furrowed.

This was her chance! Now she could get rid of the captain bastard once and for all. "I was wondering if there were any new sightings of Captain Antonio." Wait, why didn't she just say that he was in her room?

Nonno shook his head. "None yet, piccina. But there is no need to worry, I'll catch him soon enough."

Lovina nodded.

"But why did you let him get away the first time?" Nonno asked.

Honestly, Lovina had no clue why she let the bastard get away. "He protected Feli once, so I thought he deserved one chance to get away in return." Why did she lie for the bastard?! This wasn't making any damn sense.

Giulio nodded. "Fair enough. Now, let me walk you back to your room, Lovina."

They walked back with a little bit of light conversation. What Matthew was like. What had been going on in the palace since she had left. If she was absolutely one hundred percent sure that Feli would be safe with this "Ludwig" character.

They stopped outside of her door. Lovina hoped that the captain bastard would be smart enough not to stay out in the open (wait, doesn't she want him to get caught?). "Thank you, Nonno."

Giulio smiled. "Of course, piccina." He gave her a hug. "Be sure to let me know if you remember anything about the bastard that might help us catch him."

Lovina returned the hug. "Yes, Nonno." She walked into her room and closed the door behind her.

The captain bastard peered out from behind a curtain. "You brought your nonno?"

Lovina shook her head. "I just needed to talk with him. That was all." She couldn't let the bastard know that she covered for him. It would give the fucker wrong ideas.

He smiled (and it did not make her blush! At all!). After thinking for a few moments, he tilted his head to the side and gave her an inquisitive look. "Why didn't you give me away?"

Lovina looked away. "I forgot."

His smile grew even wider. "You care about me~"

"I do not!" Lovina's cheeks flared.

"Does Lovi love me?"

Lovina refused to answer.

"Even a little teeny, tiny bit?"

She clicked her tongue irritatedly.

"And not the way you love Feli and Matthew?" The bastard looked incredibly hopeful.

"…Maybe."

The captain's face lit up brighter than anything that Lovina could immediately think of. He walked over to her and pulled her into his embrace. He whispered, "You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say you might return only a few of my feelings, Lovi."

Lovina's face flared. "Bastard," she hissed as she struggled to get out of the hug. But the captain bastard was too strong.

The captain held her at arm's length and looked at her intently. "I love you so much, Lovi. Do you love me?"

She looked away and mumbled, "Maybe a little bit, bastard. But only a tiny fucking bi—" Suddenly a pair of warm lips was on hers. Blood rushed to her cheeks and her heart fluttered inside her chest. It felt like she was floating on air.

Antonio pulled back and smiled breathlessly. "I love you, Lovi."

Lovina looked down. "You already said that, bastard."

He gently lifted her chin. "If you love me, will you come with me?" His eyes were shining.

Lovina's heart kept fluttering madly in her chest. Should she go? She might actually love the captain bastard (she'd accepted the fact that it was a very slim, but real, possibility). She might be happy with him. She wouldn't have to marry Sadiq. She would be able to see Feli again. Feli would…

"No."

* * *

**A/N: They had their first kiss! :D**

**I apologize for not updating sooner, but school was being ridiculous (lots of tests and papers due) and I was volunteering at my Church, too.  
**

**And to explain Feli's behavior this chapter: there are three main stages of Sorella-withdrawal. First, over-activity. This is to avoid recognizing the fact that Sorella is, in actuality, gone. Second, moping and lots of tears after the acceptance of Sorella's absence. I should think this one goes without much explanation. Third, subconscious compensation. Without even realizing what he or she is doing, the sufferer of Sorella-withdrawal starts to sporadically act like Sorella, in order to try and compensate for the lack of Sorella-ness around him or her.  
**

**The Hero will most likely appear in the next chapter.**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel like Iggybrows would if someone honestly complimented his cooking~  
**


	17. Heroes and Heroic Plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Antonio felt his heart shatter at that one simple word. No? _No?_ Why wouldn't his Lovi come with him? She said that she loved him. What was going wrong? What was he doing wrong? "Wh-why not?" he barely managed to say.

Lovi looked away. "Feli…"

"But Feli wants you to come back! She misses you, Lovi."

"It can't always be about what she wants, bastard."

Antonio looked at her intently. "Then is it what you want?"

"No, it's what I need."

"What, Lovi?" Antonio asked. "What do you need?" He would get her anything or anyone (except that prince) to allow her to stay with him.

"I need Feli to be safe." Lovi tried to pull herself out of his arms (he had forgotten he was still holding on to her).

"Can't you better keep Feli safe when you're with her, Lovi?" Antonio asked.

"No, I fucking can't."

Antonio pulled her into his embrace again and whispered into her ear, "But, I can keep you safe, Lovi, and keep Matthew safe, and Feli. I can keep all three of you safe."

Lovi struggled against him. "No, you fucking can't, bastard."

"And why not?"

"I already have a deal to keep Feli safe. In return for having no one hunt for Feli, I have to stay here and marry Prince Sadiq. I couldn't possibly try to run away again and keep Feli safe at the same time."

"Lovi, I'm sure I could manage it." Antonio was grasping at straws. He needed Lovi.

Lovi tried to get out of his arms again. "If you don't let me go and leave in the next ten seconds, you will die in the most painful way imaginable."

"What way is that, Lovi?" Antonio would bear it and survive for his Lovi.

"I'll call my nonno here. He'll decide."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Matthew woke up and rolled over onto his side. He put on his glasses.

There was Arthur, asleep on the floor. He had refused to let Gilbert sleep in the same room as Matthew last night. Matthew hoped Gilbert still managed to get some sleep.

Matthew swung his legs over the edge of the bed and quietly padded his way to the door. He was lucky only Arthur and Francis were here. His two cousins were not as dangerous to Gilbert as his brother would be.

He stepped out of the bunk and made his way to the deck. Matthew could either do his work now, or he could save it for later so that he wouldn't have to lie when he tells his cousins that he is too busy to spend time with them. There weren't nearly enough chores to do when he needed them.

"Hey, Mattie."

Matthew turned around. There was Gilbert (Matthew was really glad that he had stopped blushing every time the albino spoke to him). "H-hello, Gilbert."

"Hel—er, I mean, how are you?" Why was he starting to turn red? Was he sick?

"I'm well. How are you?"

"The awesome me is just awesome." Maybe he was alright after all. "But I have something I wanted to tell you…"

Matthew tilted his head to the side. "What is it, Gilbert?" Maybe it was some news about Lovina.

Gilbert turned red again. "Well, I—uh, you see… It's that…"

Matthew pressed the back of his hand against Gilbert's forehead. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Gilbert shot backward. "Don't do that!—Eh, I meant, I'm fine. Of course my awesomeness is! What would make you think otherwise?"

Matthew's brow furrowed. "You're acting really strangely, Gilbert. Are you absolutely sure that you're alright?"  
"I'm _sure_ that I'm awesome!"

"Being awesome doesn't define whether you're okay or not."

"Well, Mattie, I am both okay and awesome, so there is nothing for you to worry about."

Matthew gave him a look.

Gilbert scratched the back of his head. "Ah, well, about that thing that I wanted to tell you…"

Matthew nodded. "What is it, Gilbert?"

The albino's face flared red again. "It's, uh—that I… that… _Ichliebedich_."

"What?" Matthew cocked his head to the side. "I don't understand…"

"I… well, I l—!"

Suddenly, Gilbert disappeared and was replaced by a smiling Alfred. Matthew looked down. There was Gilbert's head, being crushed by Alfred's boot.

"Wh-what are you doing here, Al?" Matthew asked.

Alfred grinned. "I'm here to save you, Mattie." He glanced down disdainfully at Gilbert (who was still under his boot). "From this one, especially."

"Oi! Get off of me!" Gilbert protested. "I'm too awesome for this!"

Alfred ground his boot down on Gilbert's head to shut the albino up.

"Al, you don't have to save me." Matthew coaxed his older brother off of Gilbert. "I'm perfectly safe here."

Alfred shook his head. "I don't know that for sure, Mattie. For all I know, they might be threatening you into silence in an attempt to make me go away. But it won't work because I'm the hero!"

Matthew sighed and shook his head. "Al, that's not true…"

Alfred said, "But I don't know that, do I?"

"Why are you even here?" Matthew asked.

"To save you, Mattie!" Alfred yelled (not that he ever realized just how loud he was). "When I came home to visit you, you were gone and I was told that you were forced away by Captain Antonio while I wasn't there to protect you!"

"Al," Matthew said, "Captain Antonio asked me if I would like to join his crew, and I accepted. It was out of my own free will."

"If you wanted to join a crew, why didn't you join mine?" Alfred pouted (Matthew really did not like it when Alfred pouted. It didn't even work).

But he still needed an excuse. Matthew couldn't just say that he knew his older brother would instantly forget about him. "Well, if I was on your crew, Al, some of the other crew members might not like me because I'm your little brother."

"That wouldn't happen!"

"But it might. They might not like any favoritism you show me," Matthew said.

"They would be cool with it!" Alfred argued. "All of them would understand that you're my baby bro."

Matthew was about to disagree (not that he actually felt said disagreement), but he was interrupted by his cousins.

"What the bloody hell is going on up here?" Arthur noticed Alfred and narrowed his eyes. "Oh fucking joy. The git is here."

Alfred stuck his tongue out at Arthur. "Shut up, Iggybrows."

Arthur fumed. "Don't call me that!"

Francis, of course, also had to add himself to the conversation. "Ohonhonhon~ did we interrupt Gilbert and Mathieu's private time?" He sent a suggestive wink at Gilbert (who was still on the ground).

Arthur and Alfred immediately turned towards Gilbert and glared. Alfred picked the albino up by his shirt collar and shook him roughly. "What the hell were you doing to Mattie?!"

Gilbert raised his hands defensively. "The awesome me wasn't doing anything, dummkopf!"

"I was taking care of that git myself," Arthur said.

Alfred stopped shaking Gilbert and looked at Arthur. "But I'm the hero and Mattie's my baby brother. I should be the one to save him."

Matthew smacked himself in the forehead. Why? Why did all three of them have to be here? And why did they all have to be bothering _him_?

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio paced around Adelina's small home (and had been for the past few hours). Why? Why won't Lovi come with him? He loved her and she loved him so it should be all good, yes? He would be perfectly capable of protecting Lovi and Feli from that stupid prince.

If she really didn't want to go with him, Antonio would understand. He wouldn't try to force Lovi away if she didn't want to go. He would stay and try to win her over. But that isn't the problem! Lovi just won't do anything for herself. Antonio wished that he could just take his Lovi away from this place.

But wait… the deal Lovi made was that she wouldn't run away, yes? So, as long as she didn't know what was happening and didn't contribute to it herself, she wouldn't be going back on her word. Antonio could simply whisk her off to the ship and they would never have to go near the palace ever again. Lovi wanted to leave anyway. Antonio could tell. It was perfect!

Antonio decided. He and Lovi would leave tonight.

* * *

**A/N: *double checks the area* Ah, hello. This is Giulio speaking. The authoress had already written her author's note, but while she is gone I decided to get rid of it in order to post a much more important message. For any of you who actually care about what her message said, it was something ridiculous about being terribly sorry about being so late with an update, and things about a large amount of tests, a cousin's wedding, and an evil essay about someone named Borges, and enjoying the little treats put inside of her shoe from a couple days ago.  
**

**Now for the much more important message (from me): Antonio is a nothus. I will offer a large reward to anyone who brings him to me or gives information of his whereabouts. But he needs to be alive, because I want to be the one to kill him. Thank you very much.  
**

***doiteain returns* What the..? Giulio! *chases him away from the computer, then returns and reads over what he wrote* Ah well, I suppose an author's note is an author's note... Again, I really am sorry that it took me so very long to post this chapter, but life and school came up ^-^; Thank you all for being patient with me.  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me as happy as Giulio would be if anyone actually helped him in his hunt for Antonio.  
**


	18. Lots of Leaving

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Matthew had had just about enough (of his family, that is). Even with his temperament, they were being too much! They didn't let him alone, bothered Gilbert, and made a mess of everything. How was the captain even going to respond when he comes back to see all of them on his ship uninvited? Probably not well.

"Hey, Mattie."

Matthew turned around and blushed slightly. "H-hello, Gilbert."

"How are you?" the albino asked.

"Well," Matthew said. "But is your eye alright?"

Gilbert laughed. "Kesesesese~ It's just awesome, Mattie. You don't have to worry about it."

"But I'm sorry about my brother for punching you in the face a few hours ago… He can be such a complete idiot." Matthew hoped Gilbert wouldn't be mad.

"It's alright. Ludwig can be an idiot sometimes, too."

Matthew laughed. "Ludwig can be an idiot?"

"On very few subjects under select circumstances," Gilbert said.

"You have to be kidding."

"Kesesesese~ It's one-hundred percent true, Birdie!"

Matthew blinked once. Twice. "'Birdie'?"

Gilbert's cheeks dusted pink. "Ja, I called you 'Birdie'..."

"Why 'Birdie'?" Matthew asked.

"Because your dummkopf of a brother already calls you 'Mattie'," Gilbert said.

"Okay," Matthew said, "But that doesn't really explain why you decided to call me 'Birdie'."

"Doesn't it just roll off your tongue? '_Bir~die_'. Besides, you have yellow hair, like Gilbird, and you're awesome like a bird, and, well, I like birds, Birdie."

Matthew felt his cheeks warm. "S-so? That doesn't mean I need a special nickname…"

"But I think you need one, Birdie," Gilbert said.

"B-but why?" Unless Lovina was right before… No! It couldn't be. Gilbert couldn't possibly like him like _that_.

"Well, because," Gilbert slung an arm over Matthew's shoulder and then took a deep breath (as if he were preparing himself). "Because I love you, Birdie."

Matthew squeaked and his cheeks really flared. "W-wh-_what_?"

"I love you, Birdie," Gilbert said, more confident this time. He sent Matthew a sideways look. "Do you love me, too?"

Not trusting his own voice (judging by his squeak earlier), Matthew nodded.

Gilbert grinned. "Awesome."

And then, as if on cue, came the irritating, outraged voice of Alfred. "What the hell do you think you're doing to my baby brother?" Al walked over, grabbed Matthew's wrist, and pulled him out of the room and away from the albino.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

After dinner, Giulio felt uneasy. He didn't know why, but something told him that there was something to worry about. And that only happened when there actually is something worrisome happening. The last time it occurred was a few years ago, before Giulio had retired from the military, and there was an enemy raid of their camp.

It was already about an hour past midnight. He really should check on Lovina (he had been every night since she had returned).

Giulio stood up and made his way to Lovina's room. Hopefully she would be alright. Hopefully this feeling was just a false alarm (even though it's never been a false alarm before).

When Giulio reached the door he opened it immediately (normally he was more careful so as to not wake his dear nipotina). It was still dark inside. He allowed his eyes to adjust for a few moments but he still couldn't see Lovina. He went over to her bed. She wasn't there. Giulio looked more closely. Lovina's blankets and sheets were left undone. It looked as though one of them was missing. Maybe she was still here? Giulio expected the worst. He called out, "Lovina?"

No response.

He called out louder, "Lovina?!"

Still no response.

Giulio immediately turned around and headed back into the hallway. He went past crown prince without a second thought.

"Sir Giulio!"

Giulio turned around on his heel.

Sadiq caught up to him. "What happened?"

Giulio (already shifting into his old military ways) said, "Tell the servants to prepare a horse. Two if you come as well."

"Why?" Sadiq asked. "Where are we going?"

Giulio's eyes narrowed impatiently. "To save Lovina."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Gilbert ran up to the deck (he was pretty sure that's where his Birdie was). And he was surprised to find him arguing. Yelling, even.

"The hell, Al? What sort of messed up reason is that!"

The un-awesome blonde stared intently at the awesome one. "I was trying to save you, Mattie," Gilbert didn't like it when Alfred called Mattie that. It was his name for him. "From that menace."

"Gilbert's not a menace!" Mattie yelled. Gilbert felt his heart swell at his words.

"He was trying to hurt you!"

"No, he wasn't!"

"He was restraining you!"

"I was there completely out of my own free will. I could have left if I wanted to."

"He was going to eat you!"

Mattie rolled his eyes. "Now you're just being ridiculous, Al."

"He was bearing his teeth at you!"  
"That was a smile."

Alfred (un-awesomely) huffed. "If that was a smile, then he was smiling because he was right about to eat you. You should thank me for saving you, Mattie."

"I'm not going to thank you for _that_, Al. You were being a nuisance."

"I was not!" Alfred whined (because he was so un-awesome). "I was saving you."

"I didn't need you to save me all the time, Al. I can take care of myself."

Alfred shook his head.

Gilbert walked out onto the deck, and the un-awesome blonde immediately glared at him. "You don't need to be here."

Gilbert laughed. "Kesesesese~ You're not captain of this ship. Your orders mean nothing here."

Alfred's eyes narrowed. "I'll flay you."

"Good luck with that," Gilbert said. "I'm surprised you even know which end of the sword to hold onto."

Alfred started to draw his weapon and Mattie stepped in between the two. "Can't you two stop fighting?"

"I will when he stays away from you, Mattie," Alfred said.

"And I will when he learns his place," Gilbert said.

"My place?!" Alfred yelled, "_His_ place his nowhere near my baby brother!"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Nowhere?" He walked over to Mattie and slung an arm over his shoulders. "How awesome. The awesome me gets to stand in the only piece of nowhere right next to Mattie."

Alfred glared at him and fully drew his sword. "Back off."

"I don't think the awesome me will."

Alfred un-awesomely pointed the sword at Gilbert's chest. "I told you to back off from Mattie."

Gilbert's eyebrow twitched. Mattie's brother was really starting to get on his nerves. "And I already told you that you are not captain of this ship, so your word means nothing."

Alfred made for a short jab at Gilbert, but Matthew stepped in the way. Alfred stopped his sword before it could hit him. "Mattie, what are you doing?" Alfred asked.

"Al, stop being ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous! I'm protecting you."

"No, you're not, Al. Just stop."

"But—!"

"No buts."

Alfred pointed at Gilbert. "He's going to hurt you, Mattie!"

"No, he's not," Mattie said.

"You don't know that for sure!"

"And neither do you."

"I need to protect you from him!"

"No, you don't."

Alfred glared at Gilbert again.

"Al, are you going to keep bothering Gilbert?"

Alfred (un-awesomely) puffed his chest out. "If bothering him protects you, yes."

"Then leave."

Alfred blinked several times. "What?"

"Leave, Al," Mattie said. "You can come back when you stop being so stubborn and have permission to come aboard from _my_ captain."

"But... but…"

"Al, I mean it."

"But what about Iggy? You aren't getting rid of him!"

"I'll deal with him later."

"And Francis!"

"He actually has Captain Antonio's permission to be onboard."

Alfred deflated. "Are you sure, Mattie?"

Birdie nodded.

"Fine," Alfred said. He looked all shaken up. "I'll leave. But," he turned to Gilbert and jammed his finger in his chest, "If I even hear a hint of a rumor that you hurt Mattie in any way, you'll be dead in less than a second."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Ja, ja, now leave." He didn't believe the un-awesome blonde could do that, and he would never hurt Birdie anyway.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Sadiq tried to figure out who could have possibly taken Lovina, but no one came to mind. Only a select group of people had even known that she had returned. It might just be a cover up for her running away again, but Sadiq knew that couldn't be the case. Lovina cared for her sister too much.

Sadiq turned towards Sir Giulio. Even in the dark, Sadiq could see that the old man was sitting up on his horse at attention, looking straight forward with a sort of dangerous gleam in his eyes. He had his sword hanging at his side. This was not the kind, light-hearted Sir Giulio anymore. This was the ruthless, calculating military leader.

But Sadiq just had to ask him. "Who took Lovina?"

If it were possible, Sir Vargas stood up even straighter. There was more than the slightest bit of venom in his voice when he said, "Pirate Captain Antonio Fernandez Carriedo."

A _pirate_? A filthy pirate kidnapped his fiancée? Sadiq would make the bastard pay, even though Sir Vargas looked more than ready to do so himself.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio adjusted the blanket around Lovi. When would she wake up? And… how will she respond?

Antonio sighed. There would be no way to tell until she woke up. He remounted the horse he had stolen from the palace stables (the break was short, but necessary. He was a man of the sea, not a horseman).

Antonio held Lovi into his chest with one arm as he rode. They would probably know Lovi was gone from the palace soon. He urged the horse to go a little faster. Lovi's crazy grandfather was probably out for his head.

He felt Lovi begin to stir and he looked at her. She nuzzled into his chest and he felt something flutter in his stomach and his cheeks warm. Antonio forced himself to look straight ahead. Focus… Focus…

Arms wrapped around his middle. "Good morning, captain. Why are we on a horse?"

"Because we're travelling on one, Lovi." Antonio mentally prepared himself.

A moment later fists slammed into his chest. "Bastard! Dammit, let me go!"

Antonio slowed down the horse (he didn't want Lovi to fall off of a moving horse and hurt herself). "What's wrong, Lovi?"

"What's wrong? What's fucking _wrong_?" Lovi struggled against him and finally wriggled herself free. "Where the hell are we?"

"On a road. On the way back to the ship."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why am I with you?"

"I'm taking you with me," Antonio said.

"Fuck you! No, I'm not!" She slid down to the ground and started making her way down the road the opposite way.

Antonio turned the horse around. "Lovi? Where are you going?"

"Back."

Antonio went after her. "No, you're not."

Lovi turned around and glared at him. "And why the fucking hell not?"

"Because I know you don't want to."

"So?"

"I love you, so I want you to be happy," Antonio said.

"Maybe going back is what will make me happy," she snapped.

"But I know it won't."

"What do you know? I might want to marry Prince Sadiq."

Antonio's heart twinged painfully at the thought. "But I know you don't want to. You just want to keep Feli happy."

"Keeping Feli happy makes me happy," Lovi said as she tried to run away again.

Antonio jumped off of the horse and ran after her. He wrapped his arms around her so she couldn't move.

Lovi struggled against him. "Fuck off, bastard! Let me go."

Antonio carried her over to the horse and he grabbed the reigns with one hand so that it wouldn't run off. "I don't think I will."

She still resisted. "Damn you. Damn you to hell."

"All of the swear words in the world, Lovi, couldn't make me let go of you."

She pushed against him. "They should."  
Antonio pulled Lovi close to him so that their faces were only centimeters away. "Lovi, do you love Feli?"

She rolled her eyes. "What sort of dumbass question is that?"

Antonio felt seriousness weigh down on him. He needed to make his point clear. "Lovi, answer my question. Do you love Feli?"

Her eyes widened and she nodded once (slowly enough so that their heads did not hit).

"You love her and you want to keep her happy and safe, right?"

Lovi nodded again.

"Just as you do for Feli, I love you, and I want you to be happy and safe. Your going back to the palace will not do that. Besides, you are far too precious for me to let you go so easily, Lovi." Antonio gave her a quick peck on the forehead.

Her face flared. "B-bastard!"

Antonio laughed. "And, Lovi, you might want to change."

"Into what?"

He reached into his bag and pulled out a shirt and pants that Adelina had gave him. "I guessed you wouldn't want to wear that for much longer and that you didn't want me to change you either."

Lovi suddenly realized she was still in her nightgown and squeaked (how cute~). "Give me those!" She snatched the clothes out of Antonio's hand and stormed off into the bushes to change.

When she walked back, he smiled at her.

"Bastard."

Antonio mounted the horse again and Lovi sat behind him. She had to wrap her arms around him to keep from falling off, and Antonio couldn't deny that having his Lovi like this make him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

* * *

**A/N: Hello! I finally updated again! ^-^; I really meant to update sooner (about a week ago, actually) but I had a wicked case of writer's block that didn't go away until about two days ago. As soon as it went away though, I did a _ton_ of writing. I feel so much better now. Hooray for less writer's block!  
**

**You'd better watch out Toño, Giulio's out for blood. And Sadiq is, too. But! Feli will get over her Sorella-withdrawal next chapter! That ought to make Ludwig's life a little bit easier, ignoring the fact that Lovina will be there.  
**

**But thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel like Germany when everything is clean and orderly of its own accord (which is quite excellent~).  
**


	19. Everyone's Happy When Feli Is

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Feliciana made her way back up to the deck. Things have been so much more interesting with Mattie's famiglia here, vee. But all of them seem like they didn't like big brother Gilbert very much. Why was that?

Oh! There was Luddy! Feliciana narrowed her eyes. The stupid bastard she was in love with. Fuck him. She didn't even know why she liked him. He was a damn potato!

Feliciana skipped over to him and hugged him. "Vee~ Hi, Ludwig! How are you?"

He blushed slightly. He was so cute, ve~. Like a fucking bastard. "I'm fine, Feliciano. Have you finished your chores for the day?"

Feli nodded. "Mmhm! Vee, I was just about to go up on deck."

Ludwig nodded. "I was just about to go up, too."

She rolled her eyes. "Like I give a fuck. Veh."

The potato grabbed her by the hand and started pulling her up the stairs.

Feliciana struggled against him. "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing, bastard?!"

"I think you need some fresh air," the potato said.

"Like hell I do!"

"Feliciano…"

"Vee~ Luddy! We're holding hands!"

Ludwig blushed and let go of her hand.

"Aww, you didn't have to let go, Ludwig." Feli stepped out onto the deck and blinked a few times to let her eyes adjust to the daylight.

Oh! There was Captain Eyebrows (that's what big brother Gilbert called him. What a funny name!). Ooh! And Mattie and big brother Gilbert were here, too, vee. What was going on? Was it a party? Vee, she liked parties. But where was Mattie's fratello? Didn't he want to come to the party? Oh well.

"So, those are your intentions with Matthew?" Captain Eyebrows asked.

Big brother Gilbert nodded.

"I see." Captain Eyebrows drew his sword. "If you had to choose between me stabbing Matthew, or stabbing you, which would you pick?"

Mattie stepped forward. "Arthur, what on earth are you planning on doing?"

Gilbert put a hand on Mattie's shoulder. "I would pick me."

Captain Eyebrows raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain your selection?"

"Well, if you stabbed me, the awesome me would still be able to pull through. Mattie's also awesome enough to pull through, but I don't want him to get hurt anyway," the egotistical potato said.

Captain Eyebrows nodded. "Very well." He glared into the albino potato's eyes. "You're trustworthy enough for me not to kill you immediately. Mostly because Matthew cares about you enough to tell his bloody git of a brother off."

Big brother Gilbert nodded.

"But," Captain Eyebrows immediately turned super scary, ve, "If you in anyway abuse that trust or hurt Matthew in anyway… Let's just say you'll have more than that over-protective idiot to worry about."

The albino potato wrapped his arm around Mattie's shoulders. "I would never hurt him."

"Good."

And then Captain Eyebrows talked a little bit more, hugged Mattie, and left, vee.

Big brother Francis appeared (out of nowhere, ve!) once Captain Eyebrows was gone.

"Hmph, way to back up your awesome friend, Francis," big brother Gilbert said.

"Really, Gil, you should be glad I didn't."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Because," big brother Francis said, "he wouldn't believe a word I said. If I said that you were albino he would call me a liar and say you had dark skin, purple hair, and green eyes."

"Kesesesese~ I guess you're right."

Francis sidled up beside Feli. "Aren't I always right, Gil?"

Ludwig suddenly pulled Feliciana away from Francis. "You'd be best off if you didn't touch Feliciano."

"Ve?" What was going on?

Francis whined, "Boo~ you're no fun. Didn't anyone teach you how to share?"

The potato hit his hand out of the way (where did it even come from?) and pulled her protectively into his chest. "Keep your wandering eyes and hands away from him," he said coldly.

Feli's cheeks flared. What the hell?

The pervert bastard stood there for a few seconds before shrugging. "Ah well, your loss." And then he walked away.

"I'm sorry about that, Feliciano," Ludwig said.

Cheeks still burning, Feliciana buried her head in his chest and mumbled, "Bastard…"

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Giulio led the way towards the barracks in the port city. Every major settlement in the kingdom had one (thanks to him), but not all of them were stocked with the military's finest.

As soon as his presence was known, the Primus pilus hurried to greet him. The Primus pilus (what was his name again? No matter) saluted. "Sir Vargas."

Giulio returned the gesture.

"What can we do for you, sir?"

"Make up a line of your men. I will need a few of them temporarily."

"Yes, sir!"

So all the soldiers had lined up. Prince Sadiq was waiting off to the side. The boy had thought that the two of them would be enough, and under any other circumstances, yes, they would have been. But, Giulio would take no chances with his nipoti. He wanted them to be safe. And he wanted that pirate bastard dead.

Giulio walked down the line. To anyone else, these soldiers would seem to be almost the same, but the old military leader knew better. This one was too frail, and the other one next to him can't focus enough. That one. He would suffice. Giulio motioned for him to step forward and he continued down the line.

In the end, Giulio picked out three soldiers that would be good enough for the job. If only just barely. But, he couldn't afford to be picky. There was a job to do.

"These will be the ones you are taking, sir?" the Primus pilus asked.

Giulio nodded. Then, he spotted a small boy near the wall. "And that one."

"He's not a so—"

"I realize that," Giulio said.

"He's just an orphan boy we give shelter to. No experience at all. He wouldn't be able to help you in a fight, sir."

"I don't want him to fight."

"Then why..?"

Giulio's eyes narrowed. "Do you doubt my judgment?"

"Not at all, sir!"

"Good." Giulio turned towards the boy. "You, boy, come over here."

He looked up startled for a moment, and then he scurried over. He made a sloppy imitation of a salute. "Y-yessir?"

"No need to be scared of me now, boy. What's your name?"

"Marco. And I haven't got a family name, sir, 'cause I don't got a family anymore."

Giulio nodded. "Marco, do you know how to get to the docks quickly?"

"Yessir. That's where I get my food most of the time, sir," Marco said.

Giulio nodded again. "Good. I want you to go down there right now and watch _El Tomatoro_ for me. Understand?"

Marco's eyes widened. "But that's Pirate Fernandez Carriedo's ship!"

A murmuring rippled through the men in the barracks.

Giulio only smiled. "Yes, it is. But you don't have to go onboard. All I want is for you to go to the docks, watch the ship, and to tell me if anyone enters or leaves that ship. Particularly the captain."

Marco did his imitation salute again. "Yessir!" And then he ran off in the direction of the docks.

"Sir?" the Primus pilus asked. "What exactly is your objective with the pirate captain?"

Giulio's expression severely darkened. "Recovery."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Lovina was glad to get off of that fucking horse. Don't get her wrong, she'd ridden horses before, and without much of a damn problem. But never for so long. And being forced to be in physical contact with that bastard. It was fucking horrible (horrible, she swears!).

They had gotten off of the horse just outside of the city, and were now making their way towards the docks. And to make it even more fucking unbearable, the damn bastard was holding her hand the whole time. The whole fucking time! As though they were a couple! The thought made Lovina shiver (with disgust! And fear! And more disgust!). Her cheeks flared (with rage! It was definitely rage that she was blushing from).

But then sometimes the bastard would just turn and _smile_ at her. For no fucking reason… A-and maybe it did make her heart feel all fluttery, but it all must be some part of an asshole-ish plan to kill her through blood loss in most of her body and incorrectly functioning vital organs… That bastard…

They were at the docks now, making their way towards the ship. This boy way watching them curiously, but Lovina decided to pay him no mind.

"We're almost back, Lovi~"

"Yes, I can fucking see that, bastard."

But then An—the bastard just laughed. Just what was making him so damn happy? Lovina voiced her question.

He smiled at her. "Because, Lovi, I'm so happy to be with you."

This, of course, did not make her heart flutter again and she must definitely did _not_ want to smile back at him. Such a thing would be unthinkable (but it did not stop her from blushing… with more rage! Definitely out of more rage).

They wove their way around coils of rope, crates, and other obstacles. When they finally reached the ship, Anton—_the bastard_ called the ladder down. He went first, and then Lovina did.

No more than five seconds after she had set both of her feet down on the deck, did she hear a rapid pounding coming from down below. It was coming nearer. And then now it was coming up the stairs. "Che co—"

"Veeeeeeeeeeeee! Sorella! I missed you _so_ much! Never ever, ever do that ever again! Vee!"

Lovina would have responded to her dear sorellina, but she couldn't breathe due to the killer hug she was in. "L-let go… of me, Feli…"

Feli only squeezed tighter and shook her head. "Nuh-uh! Veee, I missed you too much, sorella! Never, ever do that again!"

Matthew came over and pried Feli off of Lovina. He looked at her for a moment before hugging her, too (not as tightly as Feli, though).

After a few moments, Lovina returned the hug.

The captain bastard turned towards the blonde potato. "Where is everyone?"

"Most of the crew is in the city, because we did not know when you would return. The only people on board currently are Lars, Feliciano, Matthew, Gilbert, Francis, Lovina, yourself, and I.

The captain bastard nodded. "We need them back here as soon as possible."

"Why?" the blonde potato asked.

"Because," the captain bastard said, "the former head of the military may or may not be after all of our lives."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Matthew entered Ludwig and Feli's bunk (Lovina and Feli were inside).

"Veee, sorella, but why did you go so suddenly?"

"The captain bastard found me out." Lovina turned towards him. "Hello, Matthew."

Matthew nodded at her in greeting.

"Vee, Mattie, don't you agree that sorella shouldn't have gone with the prince?"

"Well, uh, I guess it depends on what her reasoning was…"

"B-but even if she ran away, she didn't have to go with _him_, ve!"

"If I didn't, he would have caught you, Feli," Lovina said.

Feli's lower lip jutted out. "S-so?"

"Feliciana," Lovina warned, "what family do we come from?" Matthew had never seen anyone resist Feli's pout. Ever.

"Vargas…"

"And what do Vargas do?"

"Always protect la famiglia, ve…"

"Right. I was protecting you, Feli."

Feli sniffed. "But you didn't have to, ve… Father doesn't do anything to help la famiglia."

"And our bastard of a father is not a true Vargas, Feli. Nonno says so. A Vargas is always willing to do everything to help out another in la famiglia."

Feli nodded. "Ve…"

* * *

**A/N: Hello, my readers~ I updated so quickly :D  
**

**Just so that you all know (in case you didn't already), the "Primus pilus" was a rank in the ancient Roman military. He was the highest ranking centurion (leader of a hundred people) within his legion (which would have up to five thousand people, generally). Because Giulio essentially created/reformed the military of the kingdom, I decided that it would have a (roughly-based) Roman structure ^-^**

**And for those of you wondering what** **"_El_**_** Tomatoro**_**" means, it doesn't really mean anything. It's a combination of the words "tomate" (tomato) and "toro" (bull) because I feel like that's something Antonio would do when naming his ship. I was going to call it _El Toromate_, but "Toromate" makes me think "Bull, die" and I got sad. So there was a mighty name change and then all was well.  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favortied, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel how Flying Mint Bunny would if more people than only Iggybrows knew he existed.  
**


	20. There Is a Great Deal of Fighting

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Giulio heard someone running towards him and looked up from his plans. It was that orphan boy, Marco. "Yes? Did you get any information?"

Marco performed a hasty version of his imitation salute. "Yessir! The pirate captain went onboard _El Tomatoro _a few minutes ago, sir."

Giulio leaned forward in his seat. "Was there anyone with him?"

Marco nodded. "Yessir, there was, sir. There was a lady with him, sir. Well, sir, at least I think it was a lady. Sir."

The old military leader raised an eyebrow. "Why are you unsure?"

Marco resisted the urge to cower (Giulio could just see the way his hands were shaking and how tense his legs were). "You see, sir, she was dressed as a man and had short hair, sir."

"What did she look like?"

"Well, sir, she looked kind of angry at the pirate captain, sir. And she had brown hair with this weird curl sticking out and—"

Giulio nodded. "That will do, Marco. Thank you. I will ensure you are compensated for this."

"Thank you, sir?"

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Feli stood on deck. Lots of people were running around doing things, ve, except Captain Antonio didn't give Sorella or her anything to do!

Sorella was sitting cross-legged on a barrel, with her head leaning against her hand. She looked really, really annoyed.

"Vee, Sorella?"

"What is it, Feli?"

"Do you like the captain?"

Sorella blushed really, really brightly. "N-no! Of fucking course not, idiota!"

Feli giggled. "I think you do."

"And I think you're so fucking wrong that it isn't even funny."

Feli suddenly hugged Lovina. "I'm so happy that you're back, Sorella. Ve~"

"Oi! Captain! I see them!"

Feliciana looked up. Oh! There was big brother Gilbert up in the crow's nest! Why was he there, ve? When she asked Ludwig why she couldn't be the lookout, he had said something about keeping her safe. But she'd gone up into the crow's nest tons of times now. What wasn't safe about it?

"Where are they, Gil?" Captain Antonio asked.

"Just entering port! There're five of them, three soldiers."

Captain Antonio nodded.

Ludwig walked over. "Feliciano, come with me."

Feliciana followed him inside (but they didn't go below deck, ve). "What's going on, ve?"

"Feliciano, I want you to stay in here during the fighting, okay?"

"Why?" she asked.

"Because," Ludwig said, "if you're in here, you'll be able to stay out of the fighting, but if anything happens, you'll still be able to get off of the ship."

"Why?" she asked again.

"Because I want you to be safe…"

"No, ve, why do you want me to be safe, Ludwig?"

"Because, I…" Ludwig's cheeks turned pink. "Because Ich liebe dich."

Feli smiled widely. "Ve~ I—"

"Dammit, bastard! Let the fuck go of me!"

"No, Lovi. I won't"

Oh! It was Sorella and the captain, vee. Captain Antonio pulled Sorella into the room, and Sorella was fighting the entire way.

"I'm damn well not going to stay in here, you fucker!"

"Yes, you are, Lovi."

"Why the hell should I?"

"Because, Lovi, you are too precious to me for me to lose you a second time."

And then Sorella blushed a really bright red, vee. Then the captain whispered something in her ear and Sorella nodded. He kissed her on the forehead and left.

Ludwig left before Sorella would start threatening him again.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Damn that bastard. Damn him to hell. Making her stay in this stupid fucking room while people were fighting outside. Fuck him. Maybe he would just do everyone a favor and fall off of this stupid damn ship. Serves him fucking right.

But… Lovina didn't really want him to die… but he was still a bastard! A-and what he had whispered to her! Her cheeks flared and she stormed around the small room. She looked at Matthew. Apparently, he and Gilbert told each other their feelings after getting over their other feelings. That was good. But the albino potato kept Matthew in here, too. It wasn't fair for them to be kept in here like this! And Matthew would probably try to keep her in here as well… Damn...

Lovina went over to the wall. Through the crack of the door she could see part of what was going on outside. There was the spiky-haired bastard. He looked like he was starting to win. The albino potato was fighting against Prince Sadiq. The perverted bastard and the blonde potato were both holding their own against two other soldiers. Lovina had to crane her neck to see the captain bastard and Nonno. Nonno was using his sword and, well, damn, Lovina had forgotten how good of a fighter he was. And then Ant—the captain bastard, he was fighting with a fucking _huge_ battle-axe. How was that damn thing even practical? But, he was still fighting with Nonno. She had never seen or even known of anyone able to not lose against her Nonno in the first few minutes.

She couldn't deny it. Lovina still wanted her Nonno to win… but maybe without the captain bastard dying. That would be good. Nonno wins but Anton—the captain bastard scrapes out alive.

Lovina looked back to the other end of the fighting on deck. Oh shit, Lars just beat the soldier he was fighting, who was now a bleeding mess on the fucking ground. And then, the spiky-haired bastard looked directly across the deck. To where Nonno was.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Lovina grabbed the door handle and started to pull on it, but Matthew pulled her back.

She glared at him. "Let me the fuck go."

He tightened his grip on her. "No. You're supposed to stay here."

Lovina wrestled her way out. "I don't give a fuck what I'm supposed to do." She had to protect Nonno. She hurried out the door, drew her knives, and intercepted Lars when he was three-quarters of the way across the deck towards Nonno.

The spikey-haired bastard looked at her for a second, shrugged, and then attacked her.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio felt good. He was finally starting to get past the old man. He wasn't expecting him to be so good. Or at least, so able considering the age he was at.

Antonio parried another stab. Another parry. Another. Again. Again. Again. Damn, the man was aggressive. Antonio swung at him with his axe.

The old man still managed to dodge.

The, out of the corner of his eye, Antonio saw a familiar curl. No. Lovi couldn't be out here. She can't. She'll be hurt. He parried again. Again. Antonio took half a second to see.

Lovi was fighting against Lars. On the opposing side. Against _him_.

Antonio saw the stab too late. He threw his arm across his chest to protect it.

Lovi's Nonno pulled his sword out of his arm. He smirked.

But Antonio hardly even noticed. His head was filled with thoughts of his—no, not his Lovi. He dropped to his knees. His axe fell out of his hand. He couldn't fight with things as they were. Antonio looked up at Lovi's Nonno.

The old man was still smirking. He said, "I think I'll take mercy on you. I'll kill you without torture first."

Antonio nodded numbly.

Lovi's Nonno pulled his sword back.

Antonio heard running towards him. Probably Franny or Gil coming to pull him away.

The old man stabbed.

But someone got in the way.

Antonio looked up at Lovi's Nonno.

He looked shocked and afraid.

Antonio slowly brought his head downward to look at the person in his lap.

It was… It was….

"L-Lovi?!"

* * *

**A/N: Meep! What a cliffhanger!  
**

**For those of you who want to know now, Lovina is not dead. Just injured! Badly...  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel as wonderful as Antonio would if _his_ Lovi still stayed with him!  
**


	21. The Wrath of Nonno

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Matthew sighed. Directly across from him was Lovina, still unconscious and laying in the Captain's bed. Her bandages were soaking through again. On either side of her were Antonio and Sir Vargas, both completely ignoring the other and staring worriedly at Lovina.

Matthew spoke up softly, "You two are probably going to suffocate her like that."

Both suddenly looked up and sent him a glare each.

"No, I'm not!"

"He is!"

And then they both hurriedly returned to watching Lovina—after shooting each other glares, of course.

Matthew sighed and stood up. "Both of you, out."

They turned to look at him with disbelief.

"Feli will have to change her bandages again. Now out. And send Feli in if you will."

They rooted to the spot, looking at him more and more incredulously as time went by.

Matthew went over to him. "Out! Shoo!"

They hurried out of the room (did Matthew really manage to be that intimidating?), and a little while later Feli came in.

"Vee, is Sorella alright, Mattie?"

Matthew shrugged. "I don't really know." He felt his insides wrench at Feli's heartbroken expression. "But she'll be fine, I promise. You just need to change her bandages again."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio paced in the hallway outside of the room were Lovi was (after several minutes, Ludwig had managed to convince the old man to go back up on deck, probably to prevent murder or something of the like). Thoughts flurried around his head in a confusing blur.

Was Lovi alright? Why hadn't she woken up yet? She was still breathing. Oh, how he wished that Lovi would wake up. He wanted to see her again.

Suddenly, Antonio heard an excited "Vee!" come from inside the room. He pressed his ear to the door.

"Sorella! Veee! You're alright! I'm so happy! Veeeeeee!"

"I-idiota! Let go! Can't fucking breathe…"

"Whoops! Vee, sorry, Sorella."

"Yeah, yeah. You just got excited."

"Veee, how did you know!"

Antonio could just tell that his Lovi rolled her eyes right around now. He smiled at the thought.

"But we're both glad that you've woken up now."

"How long have I been out?"

Antonio pulled away from the door. Did he want to see his Lovi now? What sort of question was that? Of course he did. Did she want to see him? Antonio took a deep breath. He might as well find out the hard way…

He knocked on the door.

"Vee, come in!"

He opened the door and stepped inside.

"Feli!" Lovina scolded. "You don't just let anyone into a room. You have to ask who it is first. That way if you don't want them to come you don't have to let them in."

She nodded. "Yes, Sorella!" Despite her scolding, Feli was still beaming at Lovi.

Antonio walked over to her bedside (and he was grateful to Matthew for guiding Feli out of the room and closing the door behind him). "Lovi?"

Her face flushed (even though she was still rather pale). "W-what, bastard?"

"Lovi, why did you do it?"

"Why did I do what?"

He looked at her intently. "Why did you join the fight, Lovi?"

Lovi looked away. "To save my Nonno…" After a moment or two she snapped her head to look at him, eyes bright. "But it wasn't like I had a choice! Lars had beaten the guy he was fighting and I could tell he was about to go after Nonno! Two against one wouldn't have been fair…"

Antonio sighed and went down onto his knees. "Please, Lovi, never do that again."

"What! F-fuck no! I'm never going to stop protecting la mia famiglia!"

Antonio looked her in the eyes. "Can you at least do it in a way that you won't hurt yourself?"

"I can't make any damn guarantees, bastard."

"Can you not hurt yourself when you protect me?"

"N-no."

"Why not?" Antonio exclaimed. "I love you too much, Lovi. The thought of you getting hurt in any way at all, especially for me, tears me to shreds on the inside."

Lovi blushed and looked away again. "But I don't want you to get hurt either…"

Antonio's heart fluttered. "Lovi?"

"Because I love you, too, you fucking bastard…"

Antonio smiled so much that his facial muscles became sore. He kissed his Lovi on the forehead, and then quickly once again on the lips. "Te amo, mi luz. Now rest up, you look exhausted."

"You don't look much fucking better yourself, bastard."

Antonio laughed as he ran a hand through his tangled hair. Lovi didn't have to know right now that the shadows under his eyes were from not sleeping a single second since the fight. Just to be sure that she was alright.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

After a short while Lovina shifted to get out of the bed.

"Lovi, where are you going?"

"For a walk."

"No, Lovi. You need to rest," Antonio said.

She sat up stubbornly. Never mind her sudden light-headedness. "I'm going to take a damn walk."

The captain bastard looked down at her with worried green eyes, but Lovina did her best to ignore them as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Her legs were shaking, but no one would be able to tell through her loose pants. Probably. She pulled on her shirt (which was pretty fucking impressive considering all of her damn bandages!) and walked around the bed.

The captain bastard intercepted her. "Be careful, Lovi?"

Lovina clicked her tongue irritatedly. "I'm just going for a fucking walk around the ship. What the hell is there to be careful about?"

He smiled. "For me?"

Lovina felt her cheeks warm and she looked away. "Fine… b-bastard."

He pecked her on the cheek.

She swatted him away. "Stop that!" Her face flared up more.

He grinned. "I don't think I will, Lovi."

Lovina hurried past him to the door. "Bastard…"

Once she was safely in the hallway, she decided to walk up to the deck. Some fresh air would be nice. Oh…

There was Sadiq.

He nodded at her in greeting. "Lovina."

"Sadiq." She started to walk past him.

"It wasn't worth it, you know."

Lovina turned and glared at him. "What did you say, asshole?"

"That it wasn't worth it." He leaned against the wall. "You'll have to come back to the palace anyway."

She huffed. "That's none of your business."

"But it is my business, Lovina."

Lovina rolled her eyes. "You don't really care."

"But I do."

"Only to please you fucker of a father."

"At least I have my priorities straight," he seethed.

"And I don't?" she asked.

"You're so selfish, always doing only what you want and then deciding to have morals at the last moment.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "At least I have sense enough to know you will never really please your father."

SMACK

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Giulio started walking back down the stairs from the deck. He probably would be let back in by now. And Lovina should be waking up sometime soon. Giulio smiled at the thought. But he suddenly stopped at the sight before him.

Sadiq was glaring directly across the narrow hallway at Lovina, who supported herself with the wall. There was an angry, red mark across her cheek.

"What happened here?" Giulio asked.

Sadiq—the foolish bastard—snapped out of his focus. He paled considerably. "N-nothing, Sir Vargas."

Giulio prowled up to him. "Nothing? _Nothing_ bruised la mia nipotina?"

The idiot stepped back.

"You honestly want me to fucking believe that nothing just happened to Lovina? When she obviously was struck across the face? And _you_ are most obviously the damned guilty party?"

Lovina stepped out of Giulio's way carefully.

"There are too many things fucking wrong with this for me to even begin to explain to you, asshole. But I will list some of them anyway, because you're probably too dense to think of a single one. Firstly, she's already wounded. In my military, striking anyone in her current condition would unofficially get you beaten by your fellow troops, and the primus pilus would allow it to happen, because he would know you had damn-well deserved it."

"It's not your military…"

"It's not?" Giulio reached the still-retreating Sadiq and wrapped a hand around his throat to keep him from moving any further. "Tell me, you ass, did the soldiers at the barracks follow your orders or mine?"

Sadiq focused on trying to remove the hand from around his throat.

"Listen to me when I speak to you, fucker," Giulio barked.

The crown prince froze.

"Secondly, you lied. Lying is worth severe punishment, and lying about an offense committed is worth whipping—the number of lashes depending on the degree and circumstance of the lie. Thirdly," Giulio lifted the bastard with the single hand around his throat, "she was your fiancée, and that makes you more of an asshole than you already were."

"W-was?"

Giulio narrowed his eyes. "Did you think that I would allow you to marry la mia nipotina after that?"

"You c-can't do this!"

"But I did. The less politically-influential side of the engagement is allowed to break it off if the higher ranking side does something particularly inappropriate. And even from only the three reasons I gave you, I have plenty of ability to break this damned thing off." Giulio scowled at him. "You make me sick. Leave." He threw Sadiq onto the ground. "And tell King Serhan _exactly_ why you cannot marry Lady Lovina. And if you tell a single fucking lie…"

Giulio watched as the crown prince ran away. He immediately turned towards Lovina. "Are you alright, Lovina?" He put an arm under hers to help support her.

"Yes, Nonno."

"Are you sure? Does your cheek hurt from what the asshole did to you? Is your shoulder alright? Why are you even moving around so early?"

"I said I'm fine, Nonno. And I'm taking a walk."

"Do you want to go up to the deck or back to bed? Maybe you should after all of that excitement…"

"I'll go up on deck."

Giulio helped his nipote up the stairs. Watching her mask her pain made his heart clench with guilt. He looked down at the ground ashamed. "I am sorry, piccina…"

She looked at him. "There is nothing for you to be sorry about."

"But I hurt you."

"Doing what a Vargas should, protecting la famiglia. You have nothing to be sorry about, and even if you did I would have already forgiven you."

Giulio smiled softly. "Grazie."

* * *

**A/N: Meep! Angry Nonno is rather angry, no? **

**But! Lovina is alright, and that is what matters (mostly).  
**

**But thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me as happy as America if he got a drive-through McDonald's in his own garage~  
**


	22. Calm Before the Storm Perhaps?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Feliciana moved around up on deck. She was very happy to see Nonno again, vee. He looked very sorry to have stabbed Sorella, but Feli told him that Sorella would probably forgive him. But Nonno didn't believe her and was still sad, veee.

Oh! But there was Sorella and Nonno now, ve~.

Feli stopped. "E-eh?!" She ran over to them. "Sorella, are you alright? What happened? Did someone hurt you, ve?"

Sorella rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Feli."

Nonno looked at Feli. "Has Sadiq left, Feliciana?"

"Sadiq?" Feli asked. "I don't know, Nonno, but I wasn't really paying attention, vee. Was Sadiq the one who hurt Sorella?" She frowned. No one should ever hurt Sorella, ve.

"Yes, Feliciana, but I got rid of him," Nonno said.

Feli smiled. "Oh good, ve~" Now Sadiq could marry that girl he liked and Sorella could marry Captain Antonio! If Nonno would let them, veee.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio went up to the deck. Surely Lovi has been walking long enough by now? Either way, she needed rest. She was still wounded! (He was wounded, too, but not as severely and it didn't matter anyway).

There she was!

"Lovi~" Antonio went over to her.

"Yes, bastard?" Lovi asked (and she was blushing. How cute~).

"Can't I want to be with you?"

She crossed her arms. "Maybe you fucking can't."

Antonio chuckled. "That's not very nice."

Lovi turned around to face him. "What do I care about—"

"Lovi!" Antonio interrupted. "What happened to you?" He gently placed his hand on her bruised cheek. "How did you get hurt?"

Lovi huffed and turned her head away from his hand. "I'm fine."

"Lovi…"

She sent a glare at him. "I said I'm fine, bastard."

Antonio stepped close to her. "Lovi, I don't want you to lie to me." His tone darkened, "Did someone hurt you?" Whoever did would pay. Severely.

She looked at him. "Yes."

"Who?"

"I'm not saying."

Antonio wrapped his arms around her waist. "Please, Lovi?"

She blushed and looked away. "Sadiq…"

His arms tightened around her slightly. "May I kill him, Lovi?"

Lovi looked at him pointedly. "No, you can't."

Antonio pouted. "Why not?

Lovi blushed again (so cute~). "He's already gone… bastard."

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Nonno got rid of him."

Antonio muttered under his breath, "So, the crazy old man finally did something useful? But if I was there, my Lovi wouldn't have gotten hit in the first place…"

"What was that, bastard?" Lovi asked.

He laughed. "Nothing, Lovi~"

She shot him a skeptical look.

"So, Lovi, does this mean you don't have to marry the crown pric—I mean, prince?"

Lovi rolled her eyes. "Yes, I don't."

Antonio smiled. "Wonderful~"

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Giulio glared at the bastard next to his dear nipotina. He had no right to touch her like that!

"Veee, Nonno?"

Giulio stopped at looked at his other dear nipotina. "Yes, Feliciana?"

"Are you alright, ve? You're getting the same look Sorella does when she's planning on murdering someone…"

Giulio smiled and patted Feliciana on the head. "Of course I am fine, bambina."

"Oh! Ve~ would you like to meet Ludwig, Nonno?"

Giulio shrugged. "Why not?"

Feliciana "ve~"-ed off and came back a short while later with a tall German with slicked back blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Ah, so this is your potato, Feliciana?"

She laughed. "Don't call him a potato, Nonno! Only Sorella says that when she's being mean to him, ve~"

"And how often is that?" Giulio asked.

Feliciana thought for a moment. "All of the time, ve!" She laughed.

Ludwig sighed. "It's true."

Giulio looked at his nipotina. "But Lovina still hasn't tried to kill him?"

"No, ve~. She only ever threatens to hurt him. Vee, Sorella even trusted Ludwig to keep me safe when she left!"

Giulio nodded. "I see…" He turned towards Ludwig. "Then you are acceptable and may go near la mia nipotina."

Ludwig's brow furrowed. "Thank… you?"

Giulio smiled. "Not a problem at all, really."

"Veee, Nonno?" Feliciana asked.

"Yes?"

"How come Ludwig is alright but Captain Antonio isn't?"

Giulio stopped for a short moment. "Because, Feliciana," he said, "Lovina has already said that Ludwig is alright."

"But Sorella thinks that Antonio is alright, too, ve."

"Yes, bambina." Giulio patted her on the head again. "But your sorella is much more protective of you than she is of herself."

"Oooh, so you have to be super protective of her to make up for it, ve?" Feliciana asked.

Giulio nodded. "Exactly." He looked over to Lovina again. Now the bastard was _hugging_ her. Filthy pirate.

* * *

**A/N: Hello again~  
**

**I apologize for being a bit late with updating and for this chapter being so short, but I was drained from my exams last week and I could only have so much happen in this chapter. (The next one will have a lot happening and I didn't feel like being evil with cliffhangers this time).  
**

**Sadly, this story will end soon! Only two chapters or so left *le sneef*. But, I am planning on having an epilogue ^-^ So, if you have questions about what happened to someone, you can start asking them now. I'll try to get them covered in the epilogue~ (and please don't ask about a certain character if they are still appearing with some frequency in the story, such as Lovina, Antonio, Giulio, Feli, Ludwig, Gilbert or Mattie. But feel free to ask about any of the others!).  
**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel as, like, totes spectacular as Feliks would if he was, like, given a totally expense-free shopping trip! (Dear goodness, what the hell did I just type..? O_o Please, allow me do a new one that doesn't melt my brain as much...)  
**

***Ahem* Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me as happy as Belarus would be if her dear _Big Brother_ would stop running away from her~  
**


	23. Relentless Nonno

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

"Pirate."

Antonio looked up to see the crazy old man walking towards them (him and Lovi~). He nodded. "Old man."

The crazy bastard's eyebrow twitched. He looked at Lovi. "I need to talk with the pirate. Is that alright, piccina?"

Lovi nodded.

"Well, this _pirate_ would rather stay here with Lovi," Antonio said.

"But said pirate will die soon without a chance to defend himself if he doesn't come speak with me."

Antonio sighed. "If I really must."

Lovi looked at the old bastard. "No killing him, Nonno."

"Yes, piccina." And then he walked away, motioning for Antonio to follow.

Antonio flashed a reassuring smile before following after the crazy old man.

Lovi blushed and looked away. So cute~

Antonio followed down after him all the way to the storeroom. "Why are we in here?"

"So that we won't be interrupted."

"We won't be." Antonio leaned against a stack of crates. "So, what was it that you wanted to discuss?"

"You and la mia nipotina," the old bastard said.

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "You're finally allowing it?"

The fucker laughed. It was coarse, hard. "Hardly." He glared at Antonio. "What are your immediate intentions with Lovina?"

"To keep her here with me."

"Why?"

"Because I love her."

"Then what are your long-term intentions?" the old man asked.

"To stay by her side forever."

The bastard's eyes narrowed. "How so?"

"I don't know, really… Marriage, if she wants it."

"Why wouldn't she?"

"Why wouldn't she what?" Antonio asked.

"Want to marry you."

Antonio shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't discussed the matter at all with her."

"Then you don't care for her opinion?"

"I never said that. But a certain bastard has been preventing me from spending any time with her." Antonio sent the old man a pointed look.

He scoffed. "Do not blame me for protecting la mia famiglia."

They were both silent for a few seconds.

"Where are you from?" the old man asked.

"Spain."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty."

"What is your name?"

"Antonio Fernandez Carriedo."

"Are you lying?"

"No."

"Who was your father?"

"Mikel Fernandez Ochoa."

"What was he?"

"A farmer."

"Who was your mother?"

"Isabel Carriedo de Fernandez."

"Any siblings?"

"One?"

"Who is that?"

"João, my older brother."

"When was the last time you saw any of your family?"

Antonio stopped to think for a moment. "Eight years."

"Why?"

"My parents are dead."

"And your brother?"

"I hate him."

Giulio narrowed his eyes again. "I see… Now, what is your standard punishment for causing discord on your ship?"

Antonio paused. "It depends…"

"Explain."

"He would get extra work and a warning first."

The old bastard raised an eyebrow. "And then?"

"Most of the time they would be tied to the mast for a day with no food or water."

"And after another incident?"

Antonio paused for half a moment. "Twenty lashes."

The bastard scoffed. "Too lenient. What about for stealing from the ship?"

"We take all of his possessions and throw him overboard."

"So quickly?" the old bastard asked. "You don't even give him a chance to fucking explain himself? I see."

Antonio resisted the urge to cringe. The stupid fucking bastard would never allow him near Lovi.

"And what if someone disobeys your direct orders?"

"Tied to the mast for two days without food and minimal water…"

"Repeated offence?"

"Forty lashes."

"So little?" The old fucker clicked his tongue irritatedly. "When I was a ca—head of the military, I was nowhere near as forgiving."

Antonio looked at him. "You were a captain in the navy?" It would explain why the bastard refused to trust him.

He snorted. "Hardly."

Antonio thought for a moment. He definitely had almost said "captain"… and he apparently had standards for punishments on a pirate ship… "Then you were a pirate captain."

"So what if I was?"

"Then why do you hate me?" Antonio asked. "You should know then what pirates can be like."

"Maybe that _is_ why I hate you."

"But you should realize that not all pirates are bad."

"Oh really?"

"Yes!" Antonio pushed himself off of the crates. "Not all pirate captains are bad, and I'm one of them!"

The fucker narrowed his eyes. "But I also have firsthand experience as to what complete assholes they can be. I did stop for a reason."

"But—!"

"What is your policy for finding a woman on the ship?"

Antonio stopped. "…What?"

The old bastard prowled towards him. "What _exactly_ would you do if you found a woman on your ship?"

"M-my policy is different now…"

"What was it before?" Lovi's nonno shot him an icy, penetrating glare.

"Throw her overboard."

"And beforehand?"

"I would leave that up to my crew."

"Your crew, huh? And they could do whatever they wanted?"

"Practically," Antonio said. "I didn't really involve myself."

"That doesn't change the facts."

Antonio sighed. This bastard was just so stubborn.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Giulio bristled. That filthy pirate bastard was hugging Lovina. _Again_. Just as he was about to remedy the situation, Feliciana came over.

"Veee, Nonno, I want you to meet our fratello adottivo!"

"Who?" Giulio asked. "Oh! The one that Lovina told me about."

Feliciana nodded.

"So where is he?" Giulio asked.

She pulled a long-haired, blonde boy with glasses in front of her. He even had a hair curl! "This is Mattie, Nonno. Mattie, say hi, vee."

"H-hello, sir."

Giulio laughed. "I remember you now! You're the one who took care of Lovina. And there's no need for you to call me "sir". If you are i miei nipotini's fratello adottivo, then you may call me your nonno."

After a second or so, Matthew nodded. "Alright… Nonno."

Giulio smiled. This Matthew kid was alright.

Later that day, Matthew walked up to Giulio, who was sitting on the deck.

"Are you alright?" the blonde asked.

"Yes, Matthew. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"The nothus."

"Who?"

"Your captain."

"Oh," Matthew said. "What about him?"

"I truly do not want him anywhere near Lovina," Giulio said.

"But?"

"I want Lovina to be happy," Giulio replied.

"So, what is it that you're going to do?" Matthew asked.

"I don't know," Giulio said. "I want Lovina to be happy, but the nothus is a fucking nothus and if he screws her over it will be my fault for not killing him first and I do not want any of i miei nipotini to be so upset."

"Well," Matthew said, "Is there a way for you to find out whether or not Captain Antonio is a … "nothus" or not?"

"That's what I've been trying to do!" Giulio threw his hands up in the air. "I've already interrogated him."

"…And?"

"Lovina deserves better."

Matthew sighed. "Well, maybe there's a way you can find prove that he truly loves her and won't just screw her over?"

Giulio snapped his fingers. "That's it!"

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio sat down on the bed and extended his arms. "Sleep with me, Lovi?"

She blushed. "Fuck no." Lovi sat down on the opposite side of the bed.

Antonio looked at her for a few seconds, before flying over the bed to pull her into a hug.

Lovi squeaked and blushed even more. "W-what the hell, b-bastard?"

"But wouldn't it be more comfortable to sleep like this, Lovi?"

"Not while you're fucking squishing me, you idiot."

Antonio chuckled and pulled her down onto the bed. They were both lying down on their sides and he had his arms wrapped around her waist. "I love you so much, mi todo."

Lovi blushed (Antonio could see the tips of her ears turning red~). "I-I love you, too… you fucking bastard."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Giulio walked down the hallway. Everyone else was asleep by now, but he couldn't sleep. He made his way past the nothus's door. He decided to stop and peered inside.

The pirate bastard had his arms wrapped tightly around Lovina.

Normally, that would be enough for Giulio to start killing the asshole, but Lovina _did_ ask him to not kill the bastard for a few days. Giulio couldn't help but wonder how the stronzo managed to get close to his nipotina. At all. He was a nothus and Lovina wouldn't fall in love with a nothus.

* * *

**A/N: Waah! I'm so very sorry for not updating for so long! This should have been up last weekend! (But then schoolwork and putting together cosplays and sleep happened).**

**But, yes, Giulio, Lovina wouldn't fall in love with a nothus. Do you know what that makes Antonio? _Not a nothus_ (which means "bastard" in Latin for those of you who were wondering).**

**And he used to be a pirate! The idea amused me so I threw that in there ^-^**

**Also, quick question for my readers (completely unrelated to this story): I am doing a pirate!England cosplay (and my senpai will be pirate!Spain), and I was wondering what sort of English accent I should do. I can do a couple different ones pretty well, but what would work best for a _pirate_!England?**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! It makes me feel as awesome as Gilbird. At any time. (Because Gilbird is always awesome~)**


	24. A Blessing, Almost

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

Matthew walked over to Sir Giu—Nonno. "I'm about to go to the market with Lovina."

Nonno raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling me?"

"Because Captain Antonio is in his office and I thought that someone should know."

Nonno nodded. "Alright, have fun, you two."

Matthew nodded and hurried over to the ladder. As he climbed down he called, "Okay, Lovina, let's go!"

Lovina nodded. "Just hurry the fuck up!"

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio stepped out of his office. Now he knew where they were going. All he had to do now was remove the crazy old bastard from his ship. He looked around the deck. Lovi wasn't here. He went down below; maybe Lovi was in their room? No…

Antonio forced himself to take a deep breath. He shouldn't worry yet. He searched every room down below, but he couldn't find Lovi. He went back up on deck. Lovi was nowhere to be found. He hurried over to her nonno. "Have you seen Lovi?"

The old man took a second to look at him. "I haven't seen her."

Antonio immediately started pacing. Where was Lovi? What if she left him? No… She wouldn't do that. Her family was still here and she said that she loved him. What if she was hurt? Antonio's eyes widened at the thought. Lovi could be horribly injured and unable to leave whatever terrible place she was stuck in! What if Antonio couldn't find her? What if someone else came along and saved Lovi and she fell madly in love with whoever saved her? Antonio would become nothing more than the mere ghost of a memory to Lovi, if that. His heart clenched painfully tight at the thought.

But, no, even if Lovi was hurt (which Antonio truly wished she wasn't), someone would have known what direction she was headed in. Antonio would have been able to find her. That left only one possible option.

Some bastard must have kidnapped Lovi.

Just as Antonio was about to go get his battle axe so he could go rescue his Lovi, he stopped at a sword waving in front of his face. He blinked and looked at the bastard. "What?"

The old man gave him a look. "You haven't heard a single thing I've said, have you?"

Antonio moved past him. "There's no time. I need to go save Lovi!" He hurried into his quarters, and grabbed his battle axe. Would he need his sword? No, it'll only slow him down. Antonio hurried back up to the deck. Now to go save Lovi.

The old bastard stopped him again. "Stop and listen to me."

Antonio tried to move past him again. "But we're losing time. Lovi could be horribly wounded—or worse!—by now."

"Listen, you," the old bastard glared. "Lovina is—"

"Lovi!" Antonio dropped his halberd and ran over to her, pulling her into a tight hug.

"B-bastard?"

"I was so worried, Lovi. Are you alright?" Before she could answer, he leaned back and gave her a once-over. Just to be sure.

"I'm fine, idiota."

Antonio looked at her. "Are you really, truly, very sure, mi vida?"

Lovi blushed. "Of course I'm sure! What the hell is wrong with you, bastard?"

He pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm just happy that you're safe."

"Safe?" Lovi raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be safe? I was only at the market with Matthew. I think he told Nonno where we were going."

Antonio turned and glared at the old bastard. "Is that true?"

"Yes, I did not see Lovina herself, but Matthew told me where they were going."

"Why didn't you say so?!"

The fucker rolled his eyes. "I did, but you were too stupid to hear me."

"I wasn't being stupid!"

Matthew tried to hold Antonio back (when did he get here?). "Calm down, Captain. He's just trying to rile you up."

Antonio gave him a look. "So? And why are you telling me this?"

"Well, Lovina made a deal with Nonno to not interfere with any of his interactions with you," Matthew said.

"Why would she do that?"

"Those were the only terms Nonno would agree on to not kill you."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Giulio was walking around the city. He needed a way to test, once and for all, whether or not the pirate bastard was a _complete_ nothus. This would be difficult. And, well, if the bastard failed then he would never get to stay with his nipotina.

He stopped and looked at two small boys on the street corner. "Are you two alright?"

The bigger of the two, about eight, nodded. "We're good, sir."

The smaller, probably about four, piped up. "Could you give some change?"

The older bopped the younger on the head. "Don't ask people for money," he scolded.

Giulio resisted the urge to smile at the boys. "What do you need it for?"

"Nothing, sir. Sorry to both—"

"Sissy's sick!" the little one said.

"Your sister is sick?" Giulio asked. He looked at the older one. "Maybe I could help?"

"We don't want to bother you…"

"Please!" The little one looked up at him with wide eyes.

Giulio nodded. "It wouldn't be a bother at all. I'd be happy to help."

The older looked at him questioningly for a few seconds before nodding. He took his little brother by the hand and led Giulio to a small shack on the outskirts of the city. He opened the door and inside was a girl, probably ten or so, underneath a blanket and with a fever-flushed face.

Giulio walked over to her and placed the back of his hand against her cheek. He looked at the two brothers. "Do you know what she has?" Maybe they've overheard their parents discussing it?

"Sick," the little one said.

Giulio smiled. "Well, I know just the thing that might help with her sick."

"How much will it cost?" the older boy asked. He fished out a couple of coins from his pocket. "This's all we got, sir."

Giulio shook his head. "You don't need to spend any money. I'll get it." He left and came back shortly with the medicine. He could only get something to bring down her fever. He couldn't do anything else unless he knew what her illness was.

The older boy watched attentively as Giulio administered the medicine. "How much do we owe you?"

"Nothing."

"Can't be nothing," the boy said.

"And it can't be something, either," Giulio said.

"How about just a favor, sir?" the boy asked.

Giulio thought for a second. "You don't have to do this, but stow away on a certain ship. I would make sure that you wouldn't get hurt."

"What ship?"  
"_El Tomatoro_, if that isn't a problem," Giulio said. "Remember, you don't have to do this."

The boy looked uneasy. "Isn't that Captain Fernandez Carriedo's ship?"

Giulio nodded.

The boy looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry… Can't do that."

Giulio nodded. "That's fine—"

"I'll do it!" the little one spoke up.

His older brother glared at him.

"What? You always say you oughtn't not pay people back, Ottavio."

"No," Ottavio said.

"_Please_? The nice mister said that I wouldn't get hurt and he helped sissy and we ought to pay him back!"

The older brother gave Giulio a stern look (which wasn't all that effective, but Giulio appreciated the effort). "You say you'll keep him safe?"

Giulio nodded. "I'll be on the ship, too, but not as a stowaway."

"Are you a pirate?" Ottavio asked.

"Not anymore. I just want to test the captain."

"How will you use Agostino for that?"

Giulio assumed that Agostino was the little one. "I want the captain to find him, and I want to see what he will do. I swear that I'll bring him back safely within two weeks."

"What if you don't?" Ottavio asked.

"Then…" Giulio grabbed a scrap of dirtied paper on the floor and wrote something down. "If I don't come back in two weeks with Agostino, go to the military barracks and give it the man in charge. It says that I'm to be arrested if your brother isn't returned, alright?"

Ottavio looked at him, searching for any traces of a lie, and then took the paper slowly. "Alright… And you're sure that he'll come back safe?"

Giulio nodded. "Completely sure."

"Then tell us what we have to do."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio inhaled the sea breeze from behind the tiller. They had just set sail a few hours ago. The only possible thing that could make this any better would be the lack of a certain old bastard. Lovi said that they couldn't just leave him behind.

Ludwig walked up to him. "Captain?"

"Yes, Ludwig?" Antonio asked. Ludwig was so lucky. Why wouldn't Lovi's nonno let Antonio go like he did with Ludwig and Feli?

"We have a… ah, stowaway of sorts."

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "Bring them up, then." He stopped when he saw who it was. It was only a small child!

The little boy stuck his tongue out at Ludwig who kept a hand on his shoulder to keep him from running off.

Antonio chuckled. "You probably shouldn't do that."

The boy pouted. "Wasn't supposed to get caught, neither."

"Why did you come aboard my ship?"

"I got to get to the next city and this's faster than walking."

"Do you know who I am?" Antonio asked.

"Captain Fernandez Carriedo, who's supposed to be the scariest pirate 'round."

"Why'd you choose my ship if I'm so scary?"

"Figured if you're so good, your ship won't sink," the boy said.

Antonio kneeled down to his level. "That sounds smart enough. So tell me, why do you have to get to the next city?"

"My sissy's sick, and I got to get the medicine!"

"Did they not have any of it in the last city?"

"No, they did, but we don't got no money, but there's something that grows around the next city that's just as good! And I even asked my big brother what city we're from so that I could ask how to get back to the right one." The boy smiled as if he was very proud of himself.

"Why did you go and not your big brother?" Antonio asked. That was rather strange…

"He doesn't know I left!"

Antonio stood up. "I'm going to take you home."

"But sissy's medicine!"

"I'll get it for you," Antonio said. He couldn't leave a little child to do all of that by himself. Especially when he had a brother who was probably worried sick about him. Antonio gave the proper orders to his crew and his ship was headed back for the shore.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Giulio watched the pirate bastard and Agostino from around the corner of the building. He did give his word that he would ensure the little one came home safely, after all.

The bastard had already bought food and medicine and was carrying it all as Agostino chattered happily to him and led the way down the road to his home.

"Is this it?" the pirate bastard asked.

Agostino nodded.

"Aren't you going to go inside?"

Agostino looked down at his feet. "Ottavio might be mad at me…"

The pirate chuckled and ruffled his hair. "I'll make sure you don't get in too much trouble."

Agostino smiled. "Grazie!" He opened the door and peered inside.

"Who is it?" Ottavio saw his little brother and ran out of the shack, hugging him tightly. "Where were you? I've been so worried."

"…Getting medicine?"

Ottavio noticed the pirate, and bopped Agostino on the head and gave him a stern look. "What did I say about asking for things from people?"

"I didn't ask for anything! He offered all of it!"

"It's true," the pirate said. "You shouldn't get mad at him. He was only trying to help your sister and he didn't ask me for anything."

Ottavio looked at him for a while. "Fine."

"May I come inside?" the pirate asked.

Ottavio nodded and the pirate carried the food and medicine inside of the old shack.

Giulio sighed and turned to head back for the ship. Maybe the pirate bastard wasn't a _complete_ bastard.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

"So why did we turn back?" Lovina asked.

Matthew shrugged. "Apparently the Captain found a little kid onboard and we turned around to return him."

Lovina had the smallest hint of a smile.

"What?" Matthew asked.

"He's such a fucking sweet idiot."

The Captain came up onto the deck from the ladder. "Hello, Lovi~"

Giulio walked over. "Pirate, I need to talk with you and Lovina."

The Captain nodded once. "Alright."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Antonio looked between Lovi and her nonno. "So what is it that you wanted to discuss?"

"You," the old man said.

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "Then go ahead and discuss."

The old man leaned against the wall and looked at Lovi. "I have decided that your pirate is not an entirely horrible person."

Antonio could have jumped for joy. Lovi's nonno would finally get off his case and he would be allowed to have Lovi!

"I will leave the final decision up to you, Lovina," he said. "But, I want you to consider some things. He is an infamous pirate captain, and he didn't get that way by being a good person. Most of the punishments on his ship are too severe, and you do not even want to know what his measures were for finding women on his ship."

"Hold on a second!" Antonio said. He looked at Lovi. "Don't listen to everything he says. Your nonno hates me."

Lovi rolled her eyes. "Of course he does, idiota. He's military, remember?"

"But he used to be a pirate!" Antonio said.

Lovi looked at him for a few seconds. "Don't be ridiculous. Nonno hates pirates. He never would have been one."

"Just ask him," Antonio said.

"Nonno, were you a pirate?"

"Yes, nipotina, I was. But, even though I retired from it, I was still a far better pirate than he is."

Antonio snorted. "I doubt that. What was your ship?"

"_The Istria_."

Antonio stopped. "Eh? That's not possible."

The old bastard smirked. "Why is it not possible for me to be the infamous Mortale Cesare?"

"You, just, couldn't have been," Antonio said. "He was who I looked up to when I was young. He was the model for my career. He couldn't have been _you_."

The retired pirate captain laughed. "Why not? He disappeared about forty years ago, and that's around the time I came to the king as Giulio Vargas, a successful general from a faraway kingdom offering to reform his inadequate military."

Antonio froze where he stood for a few moments. He turned to Lovi. "Doesn't it bother you that he was a pirate?"

Lovi shook her head. "He might have been a pirate, but you _are_ one. Why would I be bothered?"

Lovi's nonno (how could he really be the Mortale Cesare?!) looked at her. "But you're sure that he's not too much of an asshole?"

Lovi nodded.

He sighed. "Very well. You two may stay together. But," he glared at Antonio in a way that made him want to shrivel up on the inside, "If you hurt la mia nipotina in any way, think of hurting her in any way, or allow anything to hurt her in any way, I _will_ know and I will come for you. I will castrate you with a brick, chop off your limbs, pour rum on your wounds and burn you alive, only to bring you back to life and kill you again in a more painful manner. Understand?"

Antonio nodded.

Lovi's nonno smiled. "Then good luck."

Antonio felt his heart do backflips. He finally had the old bastard's blessing (sort of)! Without thinking, he turned and kissed Lovi on the lips.

"Hey! I didn't say you could kiss her!"

* * *

**A/N: Hooooray! Giulio is finally (partially) convinced to not murder Antonio (immediately, at least).**

**But, you know what that means, this story is winding down. The next update will be an epilogue. So, be sure to ask about any remaining questions that you want answered so I can (try to) answer them in the epilogue. It will be set several years in the future.**

**Also, next (after I do a one-shot about Prussia) I'm planning on doing a Gakuen!Spamano, most likely. So I'll try not to fall off of the face of the earth until then.**

**Thank you to everyone who gave me some input on my pirate!Iggybrows accent. I think the cosplay went very well ^-^**

**And, once again, thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed! They make me as happy as Ottavio and Agostino will be when their sister finally gets better~  
**


	25. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

"But Looooooovi—"

"No. Nonno _is_ coming today, and you _have_ to be here."

"But what is the old bastard's birthday other than another year of not dying?"

Lovi put a hand on her hip and gave him a look.

Antonio sighed. "Sí, sí, lo siento. But why does he have to come to our house? Why not Feli's?"

"Feli and her potato are coming over today, too."

"But why are we all celebrating at our house?"

"Nonno probably just wants to check on you."

"Again?! I retired from piracy over four years ago! We have a tomato farm! Why doesn't he trust me still?"

Lovi gave him another look. "Are you really all that fucking surprised, idiota?"

"No…"

"Then stop your whining, bastard. And I'll expect your best damn behavior in front of Nonno," Lovi said.

"Only if I get a kiss~"

Lovi blushed. "Wh-what?"

Antonio grinned. "If I get a kiss from my lovely Lovi, then I'll behave around your Nonno."

Lovi blushed more. "…Fine."

He smiled and kissed his Lovi.

"Ew, mamma and papá are being gross!"

Antonio turned. There were their two twin boys (now almost five~), Giulio and Aurelio.

Giulio nodded in agreement at his brother's statement.

Antonio chuckled and wrapped an arm around Lovi's waist. "Don't worry. We'll stop. So, what did you two want?"

Giulio beamed. "¡Un tomate!"

Aurelio smacked Giulio on the back of his head. "It's un pomodoro!"

Lovi picked them both up and held each on one hip. "Either way, it's still delicious."

Giulio smiled happily and Aurelio pouted.

Antonio beamed at Lovi and their two sons (he always got so happy when he saw them~). Aurelito looked just like his mamá and Giulito, other than having a hair curl (and the old bastard's name), was just like his papá~.

He turned towards the door at the pitter-patter of small feet. "¿Qué pasó, Isabela?" (She was only three~).

She rubbed at her eye with the back of her hand. "'Relio and Giulio were loud…" She yawned. "…Chigi."

Antonio picked her up. "You were already going to wake up soon."

"But my siesta…" Isabela whined.

"You can take an extra-long one tomorrow, ¿sí?" He placed a kiss on the top of her head and she nodded sleepily.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Matthew sighed. His husband and (adopted) son Fritz were arguing. Again.

"Nein, I think _I'm_ more awesome. Kesese~"

"No way, Vati! I'm definitely more awesome!" The three-and-a-half year old (so he insisted) stared determinately up at the albino.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why is that?"

"'Cause I'm a mix of you and papa, so that makes me more awesome." He nodded once.

"Kesesesese~ I'm still not so sure, Fritz. Birdie and I are both awesome, but we're different types of awesome, so they don't necessarily add up to make you more awesome than the awesome me."

"I'm still more awesome," Fritz said.

"Oh yeah?" Gilbert asked (Matthew could see the glint in his eye that said he was only teasing). "Then prove it."

Fritz scrunched up his face in concentration as he thought of a way to test their awesomeness. His face lit up. "Race you to Onkle Anton's!" And then he dashed off towards the house that Matthew could see off in the distance.

Gilbert, of course, grinned and ran after him.

Matthew continued on at a normal pace. He could see Gilbert constantly changing his speed (so that he never got too far in front or behind of Fritz) and little Fritz was running as hard as he absolutely could.

When Matthew finally reached the house, Fritz and Gilbert were leaning against the door and catching their breath.

"I won," Fritz panted. "So I'm more awesome."

Gilbert shook his head. "We tied. So we're equally awesome."

Fritz thought for a few moments. "Fine, but I'm not done growing yet, so I'm not done getting more awesome, either!"

Gilbert laughed. "Ja, ja."

The door opened and Antonio smiled at them. "Hola, I'm glad you could make it! Gil, Matthew, Fritz." He lowered his voice. "I needed someone around who wouldn't automatically agree with the old bastard."

Gilbert tilted his head to the side. "What about Ludwig?"

Antonio gave him a look. "Around Feli?"

Gilbert nodded. "I see your dilemma. But have no fear, the awesome me is here! Where's the beer?"

"Gil…" Matthew said.

"Kesesesese, just a joke, Birdie!"

Matthew rolled his eyes and came inside with the other three. He looked down at Fritz, who had stopped moving. "What's wrong?"

The little boy looked up at him quickly. "Nothing!"

"Friedrich…"

"Nothing, I promise! I'm too awesome to have anything wrong. …But…"

Matthew kneeled down to his level. "But?"

Fritz blushed a tiny bit. "But who's that?" He pointed at someone across the room.

Matthew looked. It was a little brown-haired girl about Fritz's age. "That's Isabela."

"No way!" Fritz protested. "Isabela's this big!" He held his hand out as low as he could without crouching. "Like that one." He gestured to the little baby in Feli's arms.

Matthew sighed. "You've grown since you last saw her, yes?"

Fritz nodded.

"Then she's grown, too. That's definitely Isabela," Matthew said.

Fritz thought for a few seconds. "Fine."

Antonio (it felt strange for Matthew to no longer call him Captain) came over. "Fritz? Would you like to go play with Isabela?"

His eyes widened and his cheeks turned a little pink. He shook his head vigorously.

"Aw, why not?" Antonio asked. "Her brothers are too busy getting stories out of their nonno, so she has no one else to play with. Why don't you go play with her, at least for a little while?"

Still blushing, Fritz nodded slowly. "Only 'cause I'm awesome." And then he nervously shuffled over to Isabela.

Antonio laughed.

"Matthew!" Nonno called out. "Come over here! I haven't spoken to you at all yet."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Lovina leaned over to Antonio as she watched her beautiful little daughter play with Matthew and Gilbert's son. "This is all your fault, idiota."

"Hm? What is?" he asked.

"That," she said, looking pointedly at Isabela and the boy. "If we had given her a good Italian name, she wouldn't have a crush on a potato."

Antonio looked at her. "What's so bad about her having a tiny little crush on Fritz? I think it's cute~"

"Cute? What's so cute about that? It's completely the Spanish name's fault."

He looked at her with widened eyes. "So you don't like Spanish names?"

Lovina's face flared. "I-I… N-no, but… I-it just doesn't safeguard her like an Italian name would!"

Antonio chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "It's only the difference of one letter, mi vida."

She could still feel her cheeks burning. "That one letter makes a big difference! And it's your fault."

Antonio chuckled again. "Of course it is."

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

Ludwig held his infant daughter Elisa as Feliciana continued to babble to Sir Giulio, who managed to keep both Aurelio and the younger Giulio on his lap despite their bickering.

"Vee, Nonno, whatever happened to Sadiq?"

"He got married, I think, sometime last year… probably." Sir Giulio wordlessly stopped the twin brothers from fighting.

"That's great, ve! To whom?"

Sir Giulio stopped to think. "I don't really remember. She had brown hair, I think? Or was it silver…?"

"Nonno! You have to remember these things, vee," Feliciana chided.

"I do?" he asked.

"Yes, vee, you do!"

"Why should I remember things like that when I have much more interesting and important things to remember about i miei nipotini?" Sir Giulio asked.

Ludwig shifted his attention away from their conversation when his bruder came over. "Ja?"

"Was? I just came over to talk to you, Lutz, and little…" His brother stopped and looked at the brown-haired, blue-eyed girl in Ludwig's lap.

"Elisa," Ludwig said. "And don't call me that."

"Why not, _Lutz_? It's fun. Kesesesese~"

Ludwig's eyebrow twitched. "Stop."

Gilbert laughed again and walked off.

"I want lots and lots of children, veee~"

Ludwig sighed. He's heard this before. He shifted Elisa in his lap. "One is plenty."

Sir Giulio looked at him. "Why is that?"

Feliciana turned and looked at him as well. "Veeee, why not, Luddy?"

Ludwig steeled himself. "A large amount of effort goes into caring for Elisa as it is, and it will only become more difficult as she gets older."

Feliciana pouted. "Please, Ludwig?"

No! He won't give in! Ludwig continued to look at Feliciana evenly for a few moments. But, despite his best efforts, Ludwig turned away with a slight blush on his cheeks. "We might have a second child… maybe."

Feliciana cheered and clapped her hands together excitedly.

Ludwig sighed and looked down at Elisa. She looked back up at him with (what seemed to be) an understanding expression.

**^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^**

For Giulio, life was quite good. The pirate bastard hasn't (seemed to) become any more of a bastard, Agostino, Ottavio, and their sister Floriana (all three of whom he adopted a few years ago when their parents died) were doing well, Lovina, Feliciana, and Matthew seemed to be happy, and all of their own children were absolutely precious.

They were all currently crowded around an overly full table and finishing their dinner. Feliciana was simultaneously holding Elisa and hanging off of Ludwig's arm, who was receiving a death glare from Lovina, who the pirate bastard was cheerfully talking at. Isabela had gotten tired and was now sleeping against Fritz's shoulder, which made the little boy stiffen up and blush. Floriana (who was such a shy girl) was talking quietly to Matthew and Gilbert told dramatic stories to Ottavio, Agostino, Aurelio, and Giulio (apparently Lovina had worked very hard to convince the pirate bastard to name him so).

"You were a pirate?" little Giulio exclaimed at what Gilbert said. "That's so cool! I want to be a pirate when I get older, too."

"No, you don't," the elder Giulio said.

"Yes I do," the younger one said.

"You most definitely do not," the elder responded.

"Why not?" the younger asked.

"Just trust your bisnonno on this," the elder said. Giulio took another sip of his coffee. Life now was indeed quite good.

* * *

**A/N: And it's finally done! (I'm not quite sure whether to be happy or sad)**

**For those of you who want to know (slightly) more specifically what had happened in the years between the last chapter and this one, here you go: **

**Once Giulio left, the crew of _El Tomatoro_ continues relatively normal operations. Antonio and Lovina, Ludwig and Feli, and Gilbert and Matthew all get marry within the first two years or so (with varying levels of complaint on Giulio's (and Lovina's) part). When Lovina becomes pregnant, Antonio is both completely overjoyed and completely worried (more along the lines of having a major panic attack) about what could happen to Lovina and their little 'tesoro' while he is still an infamous pirate captain, so he resigns and acquires a tomato farm. Feli complains about not being able to see her sorella enough and Ludwig (knowing fully well what that could entail) also resigns and they live within a few miles of Antonio and Lovina. Gilbert continues as captain for another year or so, but when Ivan almost sinks him, again, he also resigns in order to keep his Birdie safe. Lars inherits the captainship. One day, Gilbert comes across an abandoned, newborn infant. He takes him home saying, "Your name will be Fritz and you shall be awesome." Matthew doesn't mind (nevermind Arhtur's, Alfred's, and Francis' varying opinions). Sadiq ends up marrying someone (I did not specify so that your own fangirling heart could decide). Adelina still owns her market stall and visits Antonio and Lovina occasionally. Giulio keeps in contact with Agostino, Ottavio, and Floriana, and as soon as he found out they were orphans, he swoops in to become their "Nonno," too. The end, kind of.**

**But who thinks that even though Antonio completely approves of it now, when Isabela and Fritz are older, he'll become extremely overprotective (and hypocritical)?  
**

**Aaaaaaand this epilogue was so fluffy that I started to write about pirate!Rome to counterbalance it in my brain (and let me tell you, pirate!Rome is _not_ fluffy). So, I might end up posting a fic about pirate!Rome in the near-ish future ^-^ (in addition to the Prussia oneshot and the Gakuen!Spamano...)**

**Thank you so, so much to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed at any point in time! You are all wonderful! And all of your support makes me feel as ecstatic as Romano would be if all of the potatoes in the world were replaced by tomatoes~~  
**


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